Category Archives: campaign finance

“FSFP Releases Two New Research Reports on Super PACs and Foreign Money in U.S. Corporations”

October 26, 2016, 7:32 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

FSSP: I. Quantifying Foreign Institutional Block Ownership at Publicly Traded  U.S. Corporations By: John C. Coates IV, Ronald A. Fein, Kevin Crenny, and L. Vivian Dong Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision invalidated restrictions on corporate political spending, … Continue reading

“Total cost of 2016 election could reach $6.6 billion, CRP predicts”

October 26, 2016, 7:28 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Open Secrets: Is 2016 the Year of the Billionaire when it comes to financing the election?… Candidates and news outlets have decried the outsized influence of a small number of donors throughout the election season. Here’s a startling statistic: The… Continue reading

“Complaints allege House Democrats’ Trump ads break campaign finance law”

October 25, 2016, 8:01 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: A conservative-leaning watchdog group is accusing the DCCC and a dozen of its candidates of using illegal advertising practices this fall, arguing in new complaints that the committee has used its ad strategy to direct extra money to a… Continue reading

“Experts: Actions of Democratic operatives in latest undercover James O’Keefe video are likely not a violation of the law”

October 25, 2016, 7:55 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Business Insider: Conservative activist James O’Keefe released another undercover sting video on Monday that he claimed proved Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton illegally coordinated with an outside organization. But what O’Keefe considered illegal activity is most likely not, election law… Continue reading

“Clinton Campaign Mulled Embracing Sanders’s Agenda Against Corruption”

October 25, 2016, 7:37 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Common Dreams: Neera Tanden, the president of the think tank, Center for American Progress, produced a memo on government reform and public corruption that was sent to John Podesta, campaign chairman, and Jake Sullivan, a senior policy adviser to the… Continue reading

“Developing Empirical Evidence for Campaign Finance Cases”

October 24, 2016, 2:16 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Brennan Center: This report reviews the current state of campaign finance law, explains how the Supreme Court has considered evidence in campaign finance cases, and identifies the key empirical questions in campaign finance law that have been or need to… Continue reading

“Trump receives his first major newspaper endorsement, and he has Sheldon Adelson to thank”

October 23, 2016, 5:11 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

How mega-donors helped raise $1 billion for Hillary Clinton”

October 23, 2016, 5:09 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: The effort paid off. Together with the party and pro-Clinton super PACs, the Democratic nominee had amassed $1.14 billion to support her campaign by the end of September — on par with what Obama and his allies brought in… Continue reading

“Outside Money Favors Hillary Clinton at a 2-to-1 Rate Over Donald Trump”

October 23, 2016, 5:00 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Six years after a Supreme Court decision opened vast new channels for money to flow into national elections, Democrats have built the largest and best-coordinated apparatus of outside groups operating in the 2016 presidential campaign, defying expectations that conservative… Continue reading

Hedge Fund Manager Gives $21 Million to Pro-Clinton Super-PAC, Pushing Campaign Finance Reform

October 21, 2016, 4:02 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Matea Gold for WaPo on an unusual plutocrat: The Florida-based investor said he has contributed $40 million to Democratic super PACs and allied groups in 2016, double what he had planned to spend at the beginning of the election. He… Continue reading

“Disclosure can encourage political speech”

October 21, 2016, 3:42 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Abby Wood and Michael Gilbert in the Hill: Disclosure can encourage speech. It provides information on candidates’ positions—are they supported by environmentalists or coal? The answer can energize voters who previously lumped the candidates together, causing them to speak in… Continue reading

“Fear-Mongering about Citizens United Undermines Faith in Elections”

October 21, 2016, 10:09 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Mona Charen for National Review.

“Election law brawl; Soros v. Lincoln”

October 19, 2016, 5:24 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

San Diego Reader: San Diego Republicans are facing off against liberal billionaire George Soros in an improbable big-money brawl about whether the city should change its election laws. The way it is now, candidates for city office who get more… Continue reading