Politico: Hundreds of the biggest Democratic fundraisers in the past two presidential elections are already picking candidates for 2020 — and Kamala Harris has a significant early edge, while Pete Buttigieg and his from-scratch campaign has scrambled into the second … Continue reading
Category Archives: campaign finance
Larry Noble for CNN Opinion: Since there are only two footnotes in the letter and this is the only substantive footnote, one can assume Barr thinks the legal definition of “coordination” used is significant. He is right.The question of whether … Continue reading
Carrie Levine for CPI/538: But the time and energy going into cultivating a grassroots donor base early in the election cycle also carries clear benefits for the party and its eventual nominee — namely, a potentially massive pool of proven … Continue reading
Politico: Rep. Maxine Waters is embracing corporate campaign contributions as the new chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, even as some progressive Democrats have sworn off fundraising from businesses.The California Democrat’s campaign received about $210,329 in contributions during the … Continue reading
NYT: The two presidential candidates who entered 2019 with the largest bases of supporters — President Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont — led the 2020 field in fund-raising in the first quarter of the year.Presidential candidates were under … Continue reading
Axios: The Trump campaign is spending nearly half (44%) of its Facebook ad budget to target users who are over 65 years old, as opposed to Democratic candidates who are only spending 27% of their budget on that demographic, according … Continue reading
WSJ: Before any well-known Democrats even began their White House bids, President Trump’s re-election team had spent more than $83 million on rallies, fundraising and other expenses associated with the thick of a heated race.Mr. Trump set up his 2020 operation as … Continue reading
WaPo: The limited early fundraising hauls announced by Democratic presidential hopefuls show that no clear front-runner has yet emerged in the race, and portend a drawn-out and divisive primary slog before the party unifies against President Trump.The overall sum raised by nearly … Continue reading
You can find the majority and partially dissenting opinion at this link. … Continue reading
Issue One: Issue One was joined today by 15 other organizations from across the ideological spectrum in urging all Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to publicly disclose information about their campaign top fundraisers on a regular basis during the 2020 presidential election.Presidential candidates … Continue reading
The Washington Examiner reports. … Continue reading
Ken Doyle: A decision by two federal judges is making it impossible to challenge the way the Federal Election Commission enforces campaign laws.When the FEC deadlocks along party lines, that’s now the end of the line — no court can … Continue reading
CNN: As major presidential hopefuls release their fundraising numbers from the first quarter this week, recent polling finds just 1 in 5 Americans say they are satisfied with the nation’s campaign finance laws.The January Gallup poll found that exactly 20% of … Continue reading
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. … Continue reading
Politico: Top black donors and operatives are calling on fellow Democrats to abandon their push against super PACs, arguing that one of Democrats’ most popular 2020 talking points will ultimately cut off much-needed resources for candidates of color.In a letter … Continue reading
SSRC: In this conversation hosted by the Media & Democracy program, program officer Mike Miller discusses the trajectory of campaign financing in recent elections with Ciara Torres-Spelliscy (Stetson University) and Heath Brown (John Jay College of Criminal Justice). In particular, they address … Continue reading
Eric Wang for the Daily Caller. … Continue reading
Rebecca Beyer for the ABA Journal: One possible defense to any charge of campaign finance violations in the AMI/McDougal deal would come from the Federal Election Campaign Act’s distinction between campaign expenses and “personal use” expenses. (Edwards went with the … Continue reading
Zoe Tillman: NEW: Sen. Ted Cruz is suing the FEC, challenging a $250K cap on the amount of money a candidate can raise after an election to repay personal funds the candidate loaned to his or her campaign https://t.co/tDfFnuDuUa pic.twitter.com/IEg0cLXFnU— … Continue reading
Smart Shane Goldmacher and Jontahan Martin in the NYT: The race for cash in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary is reaching a frenetic peak this weekend with a dozen fund-raisers on both coasts, as presidential hopefuls rush to vacuum up … Continue reading
Judge Ikuta’s dissent and a response from the panel majority are available at this link. I have little doubt that AFP will try next at the Supreme Court. (via Bloomberg USLW). … Continue reading
Bruce Freed, Dan Carroll, and Karl Sandstorm blog. … Continue reading
From an Eleanor Eagan Jeff Hauser analysis of independent agencies: Finally, the plight of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an example of how Trump’s slowdown can exacerbate pre-existing threats to the public good. All of the commissioners are serving expired … Continue reading
WaPo: Responding to action in the House, Senate Democrats unveiled their own version of a sweeping election and ethics reform bill Wednesday — one that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed never to bring to a vote.Dubbed, like the … Continue reading
Open Secrets: The Center for Responsive Politics is pleased to announce the publication of “Race, Gender, and Money in Politics: Campaign Finance and Federal Candidates in the 2018 Midterms.” Written by Sarah Bryner, the Center’s research director, and Grace Haley, the Center’s … Continue reading
NBC News reports. … Continue reading
Miami Herald: So who paid Trump Victory for their photos?Yang isn’t saying — but she and three associates with an Asian-American political group donated a total of $135,500 to Trump Victory in the weeks leading up to the event. None … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs. … Continue reading
Release via email: Today, Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that a Florida businesswoman violated campaign finance laws by enlisting and reimbursing “straw donors” tens of thousands of dollars … Continue reading
NYT Dealbook: So a team of Harvard professors set out to find the political inclinations of top executives — not just the 200 who make up the Business Roundtable, but all the executives of the S&P 1500, a stock index … Continue reading
IFS: The Institute for Free Speech today published a first-of-its-kind survey of campaign speech regulations and grassroots lobbying laws that implicate First Amendment freedoms.The survey looks at state laws in twelve distinct policy areas, ranging from electioneering communications statutes to … Continue reading
AP: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of the felony convictions of three top staffers on Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign.Campaign chairman Jesse Benton, campaign manager John Tate and deputy campaign manager Dimitri Kesari were convicted … Continue reading
Arizona Capitol Times reports. … Continue reading
Cydney Posner at Harvard Law Review Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. … Continue reading
This story is going to get bigger: The Republican National Committee promised an “evening reception with Donald J. Trump” last March at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.A contribution of $2,700 toward the president’s re-election would get you in … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
Kate Ackley for Roll Call. … Continue reading
Josh Gerstein for Politico: The federal government’s claim that it has the authority to ban foreigners from voting and donating in state and local elections prompted sharp questioning from a federal appeals court panel this week.Three 9th Circuit judges heard challenges … Continue reading
WSJ: The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether $100,000 donated to a Trump-related political fundraising committee originated from a fugitive Malaysian businessman alleged to be at the center of a global financial scandal, according to people familiar with the matter.The $100,000 … Continue reading
Mother Jones: The Federal Election Commission has hit Right to Rise USA, the super-PAC that backed Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential bid, with a record fine for accepting a seven-figure donation from a company owned by Chinese nationals who were in … Continue reading
ABC News interview: Keith Davidson, the former attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, detailed his role in negotiating hush-money deals to keep both women quiet about alleged affairs with Donald Trump, claiming a $130,000 payment to Daniels was … Continue reading
Daily Beast: The fight over big money in the 2020 Democratic primary is reaching a new pitch on Friday with an open letter from advocates aimed at presidential candidates benefiting from a single-candidate Super PAC.End Citizens United, the Progressive Change … Continue reading
A lot going on in this CNBC story by Christina Wilkie. … Continue reading
Democrats in New York state government back off of campaign finance reform now that they’re in power. … Continue reading
The NY Times Editorial Board calls HR 1 the “Merrick Garland of reform legislation.” … Continue reading
APNPR CBSCNNFoxNBC New York TimesWashington Post USA TodayWall St. JournalHuffPostMother JonesTPMVoxThe Hill (and here, and here) Roll CallThe GuardianTampa Bay Times (bonus: zombies!) … Continue reading
Final vote: 234-193. UPDATE: The text of the whole thing [will be] here. (As of 7:30pm ET on 3/8/19, the only text appears to be from an earlier version: the version actually considered is a combination of this, this, and … Continue reading
A deferred prosecution agreement says that charges (including tax fraud, wire fraud, and theft of funds based on misappropriation of Congressional and campaign funds for personal use) will be dropped against Rep. Aaron Schock if he repays $68,000 and pays … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy digs into what testing the waters in 2011 might have taught the President about corporate contributions and campaign finance law. … Continue reading
This ought to be fascinating. Not least because if it goes anywhere, it may actually shed some light on what Cohen and the Trump Organization actually thought was legal representation and what was not. There’s been an awful lot of … Continue reading