Category Archives: campaign finance

“5 takeaways from the new House and Senate fundraising reports”

July 17, 2021, 6:10 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

From WaPo. From the first takeaway on the hauls of pro-Trump and anti-Trump Republicans facing off in primaries: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who has emerged as perhaps the most passionate Trump critic …. raised a whopping $1.9 million.… Continue reading

“American Airlines, other companies resume donations to Republicans who objected to election results”

July 15, 2021, 4:41 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

WaPo: According to a June report from the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, more than $5 million in corporate or industry money has already gone to lawmakers who contested the election results or to aligned party… Continue reading

“How corporations give Republicans a massive financial advantage in state politics”

July 15, 2021, 8:40 amcampaign finance, legislation and legislaturesDan Tokaji

Popular Information on CPA’s report Conflicted Consequences: “Over the last decade, public corporations have given Republicans at the state level a financial advantage that exceeds $200 million, according to new research provided exclusively to Popular Information by the Center… Continue reading

“Activist Shareholders Score Wins on Election Spending After Riot”

July 15, 2021, 4:32 amcampaign finance, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Bloomberg: Like Duke Energy, shareholders at Netflix Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc., and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and others have endorsed political spending disclosures in the sixth months since the riot, according to Bloomberg’s Proxy Tracker. The Netflix proposal… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court Moves the Goalposts on Donor Transparency”

July 13, 2021, 12:56 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy: “This is not a campaign finance case, but opponents of political transparency will likely try to use it to foreclose efforts to counter the dark money problem in campaign finance. Whether they will succeed is another question.”

“Few companies stick with pledge to shut off funding for GOP objectors”

July 9, 2021, 4:46 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

The Hill: Among the 10 biggest corporate PAC donors that pledged to pause their contributions to election objectors, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Verizon have followed through on their promises, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.Other top… Continue reading

“Four States Start Inquiries Into Recurring Donation Tactics of Both Parties”

July 9, 2021, 9:05 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

NYT: Four state attorneys general have begun looking into the online fund-raising practices of both political parties, specifically seeking information about the use of prechecked boxes to enroll contributors in recurring donation programs that spurred a wave of fraud… Continue reading

“The Revenge of John Roberts”

July 9, 2021, 8:16 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Rolling Stone: “Combined, the AFPF and Brnovich decisions continue the Roberts court’s decade-plus track record of undermining the hard-fought voting laws enacted during the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-corruption reforms passed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.… Continue reading

“Toyota stops donations to election objectors after PAC takes ads out against company”

July 9, 2021, 4:34 amcampaign finance, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Detroit News: Toyota Motor Corp. will no longer donate to members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election in January, the company said Thursday, after facing blowback over corporate contributions….Like many other companies, Toyota announced it would… Continue reading

FEC Appeal to SCOTUS in Ted Cruz Case

July 8, 2021, 4:06 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

The jurisdictional statement in FEC v. Cruz, involving the limit on post-election contributions to repay candidates’ loans to their own campaigns, is here.

Lloyd Mayer on AFP v. Bonta

July 6, 2021, 8:46 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

In Law360: My read of the opinion is that it contains two significant holdings that will both encourage future constitutional challenges to these requirements and give those challenges a better chance of succeeding than they had under prior rulings….The… Continue reading

“Supreme Court ruling opens door to more campaign finance challenges”

July 6, 2021, 4:42 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

The Hill: “In Thursday’s 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, justices struck down a California statute requiring charities to reveal their donors to state officials…. Experts say Roberts’s opinion effectively toughens the standard of review for all laws that… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Have Laid the Groundwork for the Devastation to Come”

July 6, 2021, 3:43 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern on Slate: Until about a week ago, we heard a lot of media stories of a confounding and unpredictable court, with improbable lineups and unlikely bedfellows. And sure, there has been a lot… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court is Putting Democracy at Risk”

July 1, 2021, 2:21 pmcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this guest essay for the New York Times. It begins: In two disturbing rulings closing out the Supreme Court’s term, the court’s six-justice conservative majority, over the loud protests of its three-liberal minority, has shown itself hostile… Continue reading