Category Archives: campaigns

Bauer Slams MayDay PAC/Lessig Strategy

September 4, 2014, 7:17 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Bob Bauer: So what Professor Lessig is proposing is a single-issue brand of politics that pursues its goal at a considerable cost in means and ends. It relies on money to achieve its goal; it insists that all other policy… Continue reading

Susan B. Anthony False Campaign Speech Case Back Before District Court Tomorrow

September 3, 2014, 3:32 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

Cincinnati Enquirer: Can Politicians Lie? Court to Decide.

“Appeals court strikes down 101-year-old Minnesota law that makes lying about ballot initiatives a crime”

September 3, 2014, 10:33 amcampaignsRick Hasen

The Star Tribune reports. My earlier coverage is here.

“High court weighs campaign cash in judicial race”

September 3, 2014, 7:30 amcampaign finance, campaigns, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Miami Herald: When Lanell Williams-Yulee began running for a Hillsborough County judgeship in 2009, she signed a letter to would-be supporters seeking contributions for her campaign. Now, five years later, Williams-Yulee’s letter could spur the U.S. Supreme Court to… Continue reading

“Poll: Don’t change election law for Rand Paul”

September 2, 2014, 4:37 pmballot access, campaignsRick Hasen

Courier-Journal: Kentucky Republican Rand Paul has suggested that he might run simultaneously for the presidency and re-election to the Senate in 2016, but two-thirds of registered voters in the state — including a majority of Republicans — oppose changing… Continue reading

8th Circuit Strikes Down Law Barring Knowingly False Statements About Ballot Measures

September 2, 2014, 10:10 amcampaignsRick Hasen

The unanimous decision reversing the district court in 281 Care Committee v. Arneson is here. The result is not a surprise, given the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Alvarez and its more recent Susan B. Anthony case. Given… Continue reading

“In state Capitol, intransigence gives way to bipartisan deal-making”

August 31, 2014, 6:15 amcampaigns, citizen commissions, political parties, political polarization, primaries, redistrictingRick Hasen

Important report from Chris Megerian in the LAT. What’s really interesting is that Chris does not mention either the top-two primary or citizen redistricting as connected to this new (perhaps temporary) period of bipartisan cooperation. I’ve been skeptical of claims… Continue reading

“At Risk in Senate, Democrats Seek to Rally Blacks”

August 31, 2014, 5:56 amcampaignsRick Hasen

NYT reports.

The Other Shoe Dep’t

August 29, 2014, 3:20 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Sen. McConnell’s campaign manager, potentially embroiled in the secret Iowa payments to endorse presidential candidates controversy, has resigned.

“The Iowa Case and the Question of Paid Political Endorsements”

August 29, 2014, 8:40 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Bauer blogs.

“Attack ads have their plus sides”

August 28, 2014, 8:01 amcampaignsRick Hasen

Peter Schuck WaPo oped.

“TV Station Pulls Anti-Shaheen Ads Off Air”

August 27, 2014, 1:04 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

AP: A super PAC’s negative ads against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen were pulled off the air Wednesday after the New Hampshire Democrat’s attorneys flagged inaccuracies in the spot. Ending Spending Action Fund, a conservative outside group, claimed in ads that… Continue reading

Walter Shapiro and Larry Lessig Square Off over MayDay PAC

August 27, 2014, 11:29 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Shapiro: The PAC to End All PACs is a Farce Lessig: On the State of the “Farce”

“Former Iowa State Senator Pleads Guilty to Concealing Federal Campaign Expenditures”

August 27, 2014, 10:24 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

DOJ press release: “According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Sorenson admitted that he had supported one campaign for the 2012 presidential election, but from October to December 2011, he met and secretly negotiated with… Continue reading