Category Archives: campaign finance

“Democrats used to rail against ‘dark money.’ Now they’re better at it than the GOP.”

September 14, 2020, 8:26 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NBC News: When allies of former President Barack Obama set up a super PAC to support his 2012 re-election, the White House disowned the group, The New York Times published a scathing editorial and former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold… Continue reading

“Bloomberg Says He’ll Spend $100 Million in Florida to Help Biden”

September 14, 2020, 8:01 amcampaign finance, campaigns, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

NYT: Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and presidential candidate, announced Sunday that he planned to spend $100 million in Florida in the coming weeks to support Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential candidacy.The pledge came as … Continue reading

“Trump reports raising $210 million last month, lagging behind Biden’s record-breaking August haul”

September 9, 2020, 8:01 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: President Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee and two affiliated fundraising committees on Wednesday announced raising $210 million in August — a sizable sum that still lags behind Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s record-breaking haul last month.The RNC said… Continue reading

“Trump deploys YouTube as his secret weapon in 2020”

September 9, 2020, 9:33 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Most campaigns merely post their television spots on the site. Trump’s YouTube channel, however, is a voluminous and unique collection of news, campaign ads and original web shows. Negative ads like “Don’t let them ruin America” are paired with… Continue reading

APSA Campaign Finance Panel

September 8, 2020, 7:31 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Over the next few days I will blog some of the panels likely to be of interest to ELB readers. Here’s the first: Author Meets Critics panel Sponsor: Campaign Finance Research GroupSubject: “A Neo-Madisonian Perspective on Campaign Finance Reform, Institutions, Pluralism,… Continue reading

“Trump Weighs Putting Up to $100 Million of His Cash Into Race”

September 8, 2020, 7:26 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Bloomberg: President Donald Trump has discussed spending as much as $100 million of his own money on his re-election campaign, if necessary, to beat Democratic nominee Joe Biden, according to people familiar with the matter.The billionaire president has talked… Continue reading

“How Trump’s Billion Dollar Campaign Lost Its Cash Advantage”

September 7, 2020, 7:42 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Five months later, Mr. Trump’s financial supremacy has evaporated. Of the $1.1 billon his campaign and the party raised from the beginning of 2019 through July, more than $800 million has already been spent. Now some people inside the… Continue reading

Allegations Postmaster General DeJoy Reimbursed His Employees for Political Contributions in Violation of Federal and NC Laws Against Conduit Contributions

September 6, 2020, 2:42 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Big story in WaPo.

“A Win Against Dark Money Eight Years in the Making”

September 5, 2020, 8:16 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spellscy: Good news is infrequent when you’re on the anticorruption beat. Notable recent incidents, for example, have included the sentencing of a former U.S. congressman’s wife for misuse of campaign funds and the resignation of a North Carolina state… Continue reading

“How Trump Draws on Campaign Funds to Pay Legal Bills”

September 5, 2020, 8:11 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Mr. Trump’s tendency to turn to the courts — and the legal issues that have stemmed from norm-breaking characteristics of his presidency — helps explain how he and his affiliated political entities have spent at least $58.4 million… Continue reading

“OpenSecrets unveils new online ads database”

September 3, 2020, 7:34 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: With the digital-dominated 2020 election shifting into high gear, OpenSecrets is releasing a new searchable, sortable online ads database that provides comprehensive details about political ad spending on Google and Facebook. OpenSecrets is tracking over 80,000 online political advertisers, more… Continue reading

“You Don’t Have to Yell: How Television Corrupted Campaign Finance”

September 3, 2020, 7:29 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Podcast: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy discusses her new book “Political Brands”, which examines the use of commercial branding in politics, and how its high costs paved the way for the runaway costs of elections, and the corrupted campaign finance system that… Continue reading

“Has Citizens United Increased Corruption? An Examination of Public Corruption Prosecutions”

September 3, 2020, 7:27 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

New study for the Institute for Free Speech: Ten years after the decision, this report asks if such claims about Citizens United were correct. Did the Supreme Court’s ruling that corporations and unions can speak without limit and contribute unlimited… Continue reading

“Biden posts stunning monthly cash haul: $365 million”

September 2, 2020, 9:48 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee reported raising a record $365 million in August, surprising even seasoned party fundraisers and putting to rest fears that President Trump would drown him in campaign spending.The staggering cash coincides with Biden… Continue reading