Category Archives: campaign finance

“Under siege, McSally pleads for outside help on the airwaves”

January 6, 2020, 2:10 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

I missed this a few days ago. The money quote: McSally suggested last month that outside groups should pitch in to help. “We need close air support to show up. There’s outside groups. We can’t talk to them. We can’t… Continue reading

Campaign finance compliance hits the WWE with steel-chair-like force

January 6, 2020, 2:03 pmcampaign finance, campaignsJustin Levitt

Former WWE star Rhino was a 2016 candidate for Congress … and seems to think that the rigors of campaign finance compliance may have impacted his last run in the WWE.

“Sponsor says Alaska elections initiative has enough signatures to be placed on ballot”

January 4, 2020, 9:41 amalternative voting systems, campaign finance, direct democracy, election administration, UncategorizedJustin Levitt

Alaska Public Media reports on the progress of a proposition calling for a top-four primary, ranked-choice voting, changes to appointments to local election boards, and campaign finance reform, among others.

“Florida legislators’ PACs amass hundreds of millions of dollars”

January 3, 2020, 4:39 pmcampaign finance, lobbyingJustin Levitt

I missed this last week: Direct donations to campaigns for the Florida Legislature are limited to $1,000. . . . [But t]he amount of money a company or individual can donate to a legislator’s PAC is limitless. . .… Continue reading

“SEC Proposed Proxy Rules Changes—A Risk to Companies, Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability”

January 3, 2020, 4:37 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Bruce Freed, Dan Carroll, and Karl Sandstrom, at the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, connect proposed SEC rule changes, raising ownership thresholds and limiting repeat attempts for shareholder proxy fights, to the battle over disclosure of corporate… Continue reading

The partisan campaign finance horse race

January 3, 2020, 4:35 pmcampaign finance, campaignsJustin Levitt

The WaPo summarizes the reported candidate and party committee hauls for 2019 ($463 million for Trump and the RNC, for example). It seems fair to compare RNC solo fundraising to DNC solo fundraising, and Trump’s re-elect to Obama’s 2012 re-elect. … Continue reading

“Chief Justice Roberts warns we’re taking “democracy for granted.” His rulings haven’t helped.”

January 3, 2020, 4:34 pmcampaign finance, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Ian Millhiser critiques what he sees as a disconnect between the Chief’s year-end report on the judiciary and our democracy, and the Chief’s actions on the judiciary and our democracy.

New York made a few election law changes in 2019

January 3, 2020, 4:32 pmcampaign finance, election administrationJustin Levitt

Greenberg Traurig, in The National Law Review, have you covered on some of the basics.

“Paralysis Grips U.S. Election Overseer While Complaints Pile Up”

January 2, 2020, 1:31 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Bloomberg (the press entity, not the candidate) reviews the FEC docket.

“On Va. Democrats’ 2020 to-do list, voting rights seem to top campaign finance reform”

January 2, 2020, 1:28 pmcampaign finance, election administration, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

The Virginia Mercury looks at the legislative session ahead.

“Cash, claims of illegality already flying in Michigan’s Senate race”

January 1, 2020, 3:15 pmcampaign finance, political partiesJustin Levitt

Here come the allegations of unlawful coordination. And with it, your reminder that, as Dan Tokaji and Renata Strause explained years ago, in assessing the legality of campaign coordination, there’s often a “gap between the line the law draws… Continue reading

“What Campaign Finance Enforcement Could Look Like in 2020”

December 31, 2019, 2:06 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Campaigns & Elections magazine looks to the year ahead.

“Decade in review: Citizens United and campaign spending”

December 30, 2019, 1:01 pmcampaign finance, campaignsJustin Levitt

SCOTUSblog has a running decade-in-review series, and Citizens United occupies 14% of the space so far.

“Inside the Biggest 2020 Advertising War Against Trump”

December 30, 2019, 12:58 pmcampaign financeJustin Levitt

The NYT reviews Bloomberg’s ad blitz: The effort, which is targeting seven battleground states where polls show Mr. Trump is likely to be competitive in November, is just one piece of an advertising campaign that is unrivaled in scope… Continue reading