DNC Files FEC Complaint Claiming Illegal Coordination Against RFK Jr. and a Supportive PAC That is Allegedly Helping Him with Ballot Access
You can find the complaint here.
Category Archives: campaign finance
“Trump Leads Biden in Number of Small Donors”
NYT:
Former President Donald J. Trump was trailing President Biden in overall campaign cash on hand at the end of 2023, but he dominated fund-raising last year by at least one critical measure: his number of small donors. An analysis… Continue reading
“Municipal campaign spending in California shows no evidence that contribution limits increase independent expenditures”
The following is a guest post from Zoe Klingmann:
Critics of campaign finance reform have often argued that contribution limits have unintended consequences: rather than reducing the influence of large donors, they simply lead to more independent expenditures, which are… Continue reading
“Trump’s PACs Spent Roughly $50 Million on Legal Expenses in 2023”
NYT:
Donald J. Trump piled up legal expenses in 2023 as he was indicted four times, spending approximately $50 million in donor money on legal bills and investigation-related expenses last year, according to two people briefed on the figure.
It… Continue reading
“Biden Super PAC Plans a Historic $250 Million Ad Blitz”
NYT:
The main Democratic super PAC supporting President Biden’s re-election bid, Future Forward, is beginning this week to reserve $250 million in advertising across the most important battleground states, a blitz that it says is the largest single purchase of… Continue reading
“Crosspartisan coalition calls on presidential candidates to reveal their campaign ‘bundlers'”
“Recusal as Remedy: Disincentivizing Donors”
Benjamin Edelstein and Sara Benesh have written this article for State Politics & Policy Quarterly. Here is the abstract:
As judicial elections become increasingly expensive, recusal has emerged as a way to address concerns about the impartiality of judges who… Continue reading
“Super PACs have broken records with their spending in Iowa”
Politico:
utside groups have poured tens of millions of dollars into Iowa to boost — or knock — the Republican presidential candidates.
Since the start of 2023, super PACs have spent more than $85 million on TV ads across the… Continue reading
“Republicans Are Making ‘Dark Money’ Even Darker for 2024”
Roger Sollenberger for The Daily Beast:
For years, dark money groups have enjoyed certain advantages that offer donors anonymity—putting the proverbial “dark” in “dark money.”
But late last month, one small outside group quietly told election law regulators to shove… Continue reading
Final Version of My Paper, “Nonprofit Law as the Tool to Kill What Remains of Campaign Finance Law: Reluctant Lessons from Ellen Aprill,” Now Available
You can read it here, and the citation is 56 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1233 (2023).
Abstract:
This brief Essay was prepared for a festschrift honoring the work of Professor Ellen Aprill. I explain in the Essay how Professor… Continue reading
German Constitutional Court decision on state subsidies to political parties
Sam Issacharoff passes along this interesting January ruling from the German Constitutional Court. It found unconstitutional an increase in state subsidies to political parties on the grounds that the parties had an obligation to prove commitment from their constituents. The… Continue reading
“Ron DeSantis wanted to change the way campaigns were funded. Then the fights started.”
Washington Post:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis entered the Republican presidential race with an unmatched war chest and a $269 million plan to change how campaigns are usually funded.
His first campaign manager, Generra Peck, developed the strategy and selected… Continue reading
“FEC makes it easier for candidates to use campaign dollars to pay themselves”
CNN:
Starting next year, federal candidates can more easily use campaign funds to pay themselves salaries, under a rule approved Thursday by federal election regulators.
The change, which the Federal Election Commission approved 5-1, is aimed at helping ensure… Continue reading
“Michael Cohen’s lawyer in hot water after citing court cases that don’t exist”
Politico:
Michael Cohen’s troubles just keep coming.
In the yearslong legal saga over his connection to the hush money payments from Donald Trump to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, Cohen’s lawyer filed a motion to end his supervised release… Continue reading