Category Archives: campaign finance

“The Supreme Court hears a case next week that could make Citizens United even worse”

April 19, 2021, 7:36 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court will hear a major case on April 26 that could fundamentally alter the Court’s approach to laws requiring political organizations to disclose their donors — a change that could make it much easier… Continue reading

“Fund-Raising Surged for Republicans Who Sought to Overturn the Election”

April 18, 2021, 7:55 pmcampaign finance, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Republicans who were the most vocal in urging their followers to come to Washington on Jan. 6 to try to reverse President Donald J. Trump’s loss, pushing to overturn the election and stoking the grievances that prompted the… Continue reading

“Election objectors leaned on small donors after corporate PAC backlash”

April 16, 2021, 7:40 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Politico: Most House Republicans who objected to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory saw their small-dollar fundraising rise in the first three months of this year compared to the same quarter in 2019, in the latest indication that Republicans… Continue reading

“How to Fix H.R. 1”

April 15, 2021, 8:57 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Reihan Salam in the Atlantic: As it stands, the For the People Act aims to encourage small donations to congressional campaigns by providing a sixfold federal-government match to donations of $200 or less. Congressional candidates who opt in to this… Continue reading

“The future of political advertising is connected TV”

April 15, 2021, 7:36 amcampaign finance, campaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

Axios: Political advertising has quickly begun to migrate over to connected TV (CTV), or digital and streaming television, according to new data.Why it matters: “If the current trends of explosive growth in CTV viewership continue, we could see a… Continue reading

“CEOs Plan New Push on Voting Legislation”

April 12, 2021, 6:41 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WSJ: Dozens of chief executives and other senior leaders gathered on Zoom this weekend to plot what several said big businesses should do next about new voting laws under way in Texas and other states.Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive… Continue reading

“Why Are Republicans Upset About Corporate Free Speech All of a Sudden?”

April 12, 2021, 6:38 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy is a guest of Dahlia Lithwick on Slate’s “Amicus” podcast.

WinRed Doubles Down on Deceptive Advertising to Get People Not to Opt Out from Recurring Donations

April 7, 2021, 9:24 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Just wow: The NRCC’s prechecked recurring donation box makes people disavow Dear Leader Trump to uncheck. https://t.co/TH8sURaZ9P https://t.co/xb4yglZIdW pic.twitter.com/irKFTcKlt5— Tim Miller (@Timodc) April 7, 2021 And more: This is the NRCC's homepage prechecked donation box right now.Unchecking… Continue reading

I Was on “All in With Chris Hayes” Talking About Trump’s Deceptive Fundraising Practices

April 6, 2021, 6:54 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

You can watch here (with registration, about 18 minutes into the show), or read the transcript.

“How Do Campaign Spending Limits Affect Elections? Evidence from the United Kingdom 1885–2019”

April 6, 2021, 6:42 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Alexander Fouinaies in APSR. Abstract: In more than half of the democratic countries in the world, candidates face legal constraints on how much money they can spend on their electoral campaigns, yet we know little about the consequences of… Continue reading

“Trump argues that his fund-raising was ‘done legally,’ in response to a Times investigation.”

April 5, 2021, 3:45 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT reports.

“Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century”

March 29, 2021, 8:37 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Jane Mayer for The New Yorker: In public, Republicans have denounced Democrats’ ambitious electoral-reform bill, the For the People Act, as an unpopular partisan ploy. In a contentious Senate committee hearing last week, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, slammed the… Continue reading

“Exclusive: Pro-Biden group won’t disclose donors”

March 22, 2021, 7:56 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Axios: A Pro-Biden group, operating with the White House’s blessing, plans to raise unlimited funds — and grant donors anonymity — as it prepares to promote and protect the president’s agenda from the outside.Why it matters: By not capping anonymous… Continue reading

“New Congress, Same ‘Committee Tax:’ How the parties pressured legislative leaders to raise huge sums of campaign cash during the 116th Congress — and are poised to do so again this year”

March 11, 2021, 7:47 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Updated report from Issue One: One of the open secrets of Washington is that both the Democratic and Republican parties strong-arm influential legislators to raise astronomical amounts of campaign cash. Referred to as paying “party dues,” lawmakers are pressured to… Continue reading