Category Archives: campaign finance

“How a little-known Democratic firm cashed in on the wave of midterm money”

January 8, 2019, 3:16 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: The solicitations piled into voters’ email accounts — sometimes multiple times a day. And they carried alarming messages, often in blaring capital letters. “We’re on the verge of BANKRUPTCY.” “Our bank account is ALMOST EMPTY!” “Trump is INCHES away… Continue reading

“How to Fix America’s Broken Political System”

January 7, 2019, 7:59 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Norm Eisen and Fred Wertheimer in Politico: Much attention has focused on H.R. 1, the comprehensive package of democracy reforms introduced on Thursday by Representative John Sarbanes (D-Md.) on behalf of the new Democratic House majority. The unprecedented legislation… Continue reading

Wendy Button, John Edwards’ Former Speechwriter, Reflects on His Prosecution, and Similar Charges Involving Trump

January 7, 2019, 7:58 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Oped in USA Today.

“House Dems Seek SEC Rule on Political Giving Disclosure”

January 5, 2019, 10:59 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: The Securities and Exchange Commission could require publicly traded companies to disclose their political spending under one of the first bills the new House Democratic majority introduced Jan. 4.

Federal Court Blocks Maryland Law Aimed at Foreign Spending in Elections Requiring Online News Organizations, Including Plaintiff Washington Post, to Post and Collect Information on Spenders on State Political Advertising

January 4, 2019, 11:57 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

From today’s opinion granting a preliminary injunction in Washington Post v. McManus: In May 2018, as Americans were continuing to learn the details of a far-reaching Russian campaign to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential contest, the state of Maryland enacted… Continue reading

“Republicans Seek to Boost Small Donations, but a Fragmented System Stymies Them”

January 4, 2019, 9:56 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Last year at this time, Republicans feared the “blue wave,” a surge of voter enthusiasm for Democrats in the midterm elections. With the election over, and the fears of Republicans partially realized, the party’s worry has shifted to the… Continue reading

“What Do Donors Want? Heterogeneity by Party and Policy Domain (Research Note)”

January 4, 2019, 9:39 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

David Brookman and Neil Malhotra have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Influential theories indicate concern that campaign donors exert outsized political influence. However, little data documents what donors actually want from government; and existing research largely… Continue reading

“Trump illegally asked Russia to help him win in 2016. He shouldn’t get away with it.”

January 2, 2019, 8:01 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Fred Wertheimer & Norm Eisen USA Today oped: In asking Russia to find Clinton’s emails, presidential candidate Trump violated this statutory prohibition on seeking help from a foreign country to influence an election. Trump in essence called on a foreign… Continue reading

“Updated: The Hidden Money Funding the Midterms”

December 27, 2018, 7:39 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

ProPublica: Allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used a blind spot in campaign finance laws to undercut a candidate from their own party this year — and their fingerprints remained hidden until the primary was already over. Super PACs,… Continue reading

“Janus Unleashed; In 2018, SCOTUS went after public-sector unions. Next up: a case that could decide the fate of public election financing.”

December 26, 2018, 3:31 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Mark Joseph Stern for Slate: Last Monday, the Washington Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Seattle’s “democracy vouchers,” an innovative public financing scheme that’s already spreading to other cities. The measure has already allowed more young people, women,… Continue reading

“Michigan GOP OKs shielding donors; ‘power grab’ bill stalls”

December 20, 2018, 10:34 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

AP: Michigan Republicans voted Tuesday to make it a crime for government agencies to require the disclosure of nonprofits’ donors and other information, a move decried by critics as shielding political “dark money” but defended by supporters as protecting people’s… Continue reading

“Small-Donor Matching Funds for New York State Elections: A Policy Analysis of the Potential Impact and Cost”

December 20, 2018, 10:28 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Campaign Finance Institute: There is every reason to believe campaign finance reform will be high on the agenda for the New York State Legislature in 2019. The state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo has proposed small-donor matching fund programs since he took… Continue reading

“Trump 2020 campaign used a shell company to pay ad buyers at the center of alleged illegal coordination scheme with NRA”

December 19, 2018, 4:13 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Center for Responsive Politics: The Trump campaign funneled money to ad buyers alleged to have facilitated illegal coordination between the campaign and the NRA by routing funds through a secretive LLC that appears to be little more than a… Continue reading