Category Archives: campaigns

“Cuomo Has $18 Million in Campaign Cash. What Can He Do With It?”

August 12, 2021, 1:39 pmcampaign finance, campaignsDerek Muller

New York Times: Even after his resignation takes effect in less than two weeks, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will still control the largest pot of campaign cash in New York politics, an $18 million war chest amassed in apparent… Continue reading

Same judge on same day denies motions to dismiss in Dominion, Devin Nunes defamation lawsuits

August 12, 2021, 1:38 pmcampaignsDerek Muller

Jacqueline Thomsen at the National Law Journal has more on Dominion v. Powell and Nunes v. Washington Post. For more, the Wall Street Journal on Dominion and Law360 on Nunes. From Dominion (with some citations removed): Powell contends… Continue reading

“Giuliani told agents it was okay to ‘throw a fake’ during political campaign”

August 11, 2021, 2:45 pmcampaignsDerek Muller

Washington Post: Rudolph W. Giuliani’s promise of a “big surprise” to help Donald Trump’s election in October 2016 led to Democratic accusations the FBI was feeding him secrets about an investigation of Hillary Clinton.But a newly obtained transcript shows… Continue reading

Sixth Circuit affirms convictions for unlawful contributions to Kentucky candidate for U.S. Senate

August 9, 2021, 1:44 pmcampaign finance, campaignsDerek Muller

The opinion in United States v. Emmons is here. Alison Lundergan Grimes from Kentucky challenged Mitch McConnell in 2014 for a U.S. Senate seat. Her father (who ran a closely-held business) and a family friend were found guilty of… Continue reading

“Sex, Suffrage, and State Constitutional Law: Women’s Legal Right to Hold Public Office”

August 7, 2021, 2:50 pmballot access, campaignsDerek Muller

New draft from Elizabeth D. Katz on SSRN, forthcoming in the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism. Abstract: On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first woman Vice President. This… Continue reading

“Partisan Polarization Is the Primary Psychological Motivation behind Political Fake News Sharing on Twitter”

August 7, 2021, 7:23 amcampaigns, cheap speechDerek Muller

Recent article of note in the American Political Science Review: The rise of “fake news” is a major concern in contemporary Western democracies. Yet, research on the psychological motivations behind the spread of political fake news on social media… Continue reading

Facebook disables accounts tied to NYU research project that studied political ads

August 5, 2021, 4:59 amcampaignsDerek Muller

Bloomberg: Facebook Inc. has disabled the personal accounts of a group of New York University researchers studying political ads on the social network, claiming they are scraping data in violation of the company’s terms of service.The company also cut… Continue reading

“America’s Hidden Crisis of Power and Place”

August 2, 2021, 5:55 pmcampaigns, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

From David Fontana in the Washington Post Magazine. Perhaps a little Wendell Berry in our politics! A snippet: Paul Ryan was elected to Congress in 1998 from Janesville, Wis., current population about 64,000. Ryan attended college outside Wisconsin. He… Continue reading

“The Limited Power of Trump’s Endorsements”

July 27, 2021, 11:49 amcampaigns, political polarizationThe Big LieNed Foley

Mischiefs of Faction has new analysis of 2018 data. Their assessment: “Republican candidates looking for electoral success may want to think carefully before welcoming Trump’s endorsement.”

“Push polls increase false memories for fake news stories”

June 3, 2021, 9:09 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

New article in the journal Memory by Gillian Murphy, Laura Lynch, Elizabeth Loftus & Rebecca Egan. Abstract: Push polls are an insidious means of disseminating information under the guise of a legitimate information-gathering poll (e.g., “Would you… Continue reading

“Swiss Billionaire Quietly Becomes Influential Force Among Democrats”

May 3, 2021, 6:42 amcampaignsRick Hasen

NYT: He is not as well known as wealthy liberal patrons like George Soros or Tom Steyer. His political activism is channeled through a daisy chain of opaque organizations that mask the ultimate recipients of his money. But the Swiss… 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