Coming on the heels of losing the El Dorado County recorder-clerk race in June, political consultant Dan Dellinger has now lost his case in the Third District Court of Appeal.

The jurists upheld a 2016 ruling by the Sacramento County Superior Court that awarded more than $30,000 in attorney’s fees to El Dorado County in the matter of Dellinger v. Joe Harn, El Dorado County and the Pioneer Fire Protection District.

Dellinger’s 2015 superior court lawsuit alleged that county Auditor-Controller Harn, the county and the fire district were guilty of breach of contract, bad faith prosecution, violating Dellinger’s civil rights and other transgressions. The court threw out Dellinger’s lawsuit in February 2016 and, four months later, ordered him to pay the county’s attorney’s fees. Later that year, he appealed the order. His appeal was rejected in June.

“On every level, Dellinger’s lawsuit was ridiculous,” Harn told Lake Tahoe News. “I did not have a contract with him, so how could I commit breach of contract? I never sued or prosecuted him, so how could I be guilty of bad faith prosecution?

“Most disturbing to me is that Dellinger spent $27,000 of his own money on his recent political campaign. He could have paid the money he owes to the taxpayers of El Dorado County, but he chose to spend money on himself for political gain, and he failed.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report