Category Archives: campaign finance

“New Tool to Analyze Political Advertising on Facebook Reveals Massive Discrepancies in Party Spending on Presidential Contest”

September 16, 2020, 5:54 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

NYU: Transparency in political ads is vital to ensuring safe and fair elections, but transparency is difficult if advertisers are not required to disclose details about targeting and sources of funding. While TV broadcasters must disclose information about political… Continue reading

“Sheldon Adelson is plotting a spending spree to help Trump with under 50 days left until the election”

September 16, 2020, 7:23 amcampaign finance, campaigns, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

CNBC: Casino magnate and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson is plotting a spending blitz to support President Donald Trump with just under 50 days to go until Election Day, CNBC has learned. Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, is looking… Continue reading

“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