Category Archives: campaign finance

FEC Commissioners Spar over Rep. Swalwell’s Request for Advisory Opinion on Using Campaign Funds for Childcare

July 15, 2022, 7:46 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Business Insider: On May 26, 2022, counsel for Swalwell petitioned the FEC to see if the 5-term Democratic lawmaker could use campaign funds to pay for overnight childcare as both he and his wife both work full time, he… Continue reading

“Corporate PACs contributed over a million dollars to lawmakers who opposed abortion rights bill”

July 15, 2022, 7:32 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

From Open Secrets: Corporate PACs of companies that committed to covering travel expenses related to abortion have contributed more than $1.62 million in the 2022 election cycle to 139 Republicans and two Democrats who voted against the Women’s Health … Continue reading

Oakland Public Financing Proposal

July 14, 2022, 4:12 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Bolts: On Monday night, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to place a democracy vouchers referendum on the city’s November ballot, with all six council members present voting aye.If Oakland voters approve the measure, a new Democracy Dollars program… Continue reading

CLC on “The Supreme Court’s Role in the Degradation of U.S. Democracy”

July 13, 2022, 8:07 amcampaign finance, redistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

From the first page of the hard-hitting report, available here, that Campaign Legal Center released today: The time has come to talk about what the Supreme Court is doing to American democracy. For more than half a century—roughly during… Continue reading

“Election Deniers Got Nearly $2 Million in May From Corporate PACs”

July 11, 2022, 9:03 amcampaign finance, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Bloomberg on a report from Accountable.US: “Some of the US’s largest corporations and their trade associations in May poured $1.9 million into the campaign coffers of Republicans who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Donald Trump, according… Continue reading

Lawsuit Challenging FEC’s Dismissal of Administrative Complaint on Alleged Violations by Trump’s 2020 Campaign

July 11, 2022, 6:42 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

From Campaign Legal Center’s release: Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has filed a lawsuit in District of Columbia federal court, challenging the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) recent dismissal of an administrative complaint that CLC filed against the campaign committees of… Continue reading

Google’s Request for an FEC Advisory Opinion on Political Spam

July 11, 2022, 5:51 amcampaign finance, UncategorizedDan Tokaji

Business Insider reports on the July 1 request, on which public comments are reportedly due July 16: Google wants to ease its Gmail spam filters when political candidates and committees email you for donations or otherwise try contacting you… Continue reading

Shareholder Resolutions on Political Spending

July 10, 2022, 7:27 amcampaign finance, lobbyingDan Tokaji

Harvard Law School’s Forum on Corporate Governance has this post, based on information from Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc., on shareholder resolutions regarding corporate political spending during the 2022 proxy season: More shareholder resolutions were filed in the 2022 proxy… Continue reading

“Questions arise over Warnock’s use of campaign funds to fight lawsuit”

July 7, 2022, 4:33 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Politico reports: “Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) used campaign money to cover legal expenses for a lawsuit relating to his time as a church minister — transactions that raise questions about whether the spending runs afoul of federal rules governing… Continue reading

Ninth Circuit Holds Montana Disclosure Law Unconstitutionally Vague, as Applied

July 6, 2022, 4:29 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

The majority and dissenting opinions in Butcher v. Knudsen are here. From Judge Bress’s opinion for the majority (joined by Judge Ikuta): Two retirees, Ed Butcher and Lonny Bergstrom, operate a website that tracks the voting records of Republican… Continue reading

“The insurrectionists’ clubhouse: Former Trump aides find a home at a little-known MAGA hub”

July 6, 2022, 7:59 amcampaign finance, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Grid: Founded in 2017, [the Conservative Partnership Institute] is little-known outside Trump circles, yet it has quickly become among the most powerful political messaging forces in the MAGA universe. The group did not respond to questions submitted by Grid… Continue reading

“Texas GOP donors urge Congress to act on gun control measures”

June 5, 2022, 5:35 amcampaign finance, legislation and legislaturesDonors, governance, policy responsivenessTabatha Abu El-Haj

In a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News, “Major Republican donors, including some who have contributed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaigns, joined other conservative Texans in signing an open letter supporting congressional action to increase gun restrictions in… Continue reading

Uvalde, an unlikely opportunity for responsiveness to public sentiment

May 30, 2022, 5:05 amcampaign finance, legislation and legislaturespolicy responsivenessTabatha Abu El-Haj

Public support for gun control, including regulating access to assault-style weapons, is currently extraordinarily high. But will Congress act? It would take ten Republican Senators to break. The odds are not good. And if they did, federal legislation… Continue reading

Following Supreme Court Decision in Thompson v. Hebdon, Alaska Has Gone from the State with One of the Lowest Campaign Contribution Limits to Unlimited Donations–and So Far the Legislature Won’t Fix It

May 22, 2022, 3:59 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Anchorage Daily News with the tick-tock and questions about whether the Governor, who may benefit from large donations, helped to scuttle a legislative deal.