Category Archives: campaigns

“Doug Jones ‘Outraged’ by Russian-Style Tactics Used in His Senate Race”

December 21, 2018, 9:33 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Senator Doug Jones of Alabama on Thursday said he was “outraged” to learn of deceptive online operations used by fellow Democrats to assist his election last year, and called for a federal investigation into the matter. He was responding… Continue reading

North Carolina: “Shadowy 9th District figure says he took cash in 2014 election”

December 20, 2018, 10:31 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WRAL: The man at the center of a state inquiry into 9th Congressional District election results indicated in a signed declaration last year that he essentially took cash under the table during the 2014 elections to help Bladen County’s current… Continue reading

“Trump 2020 campaign used a shell company to pay ad buyers at the center of alleged illegal coordination scheme with NRA”

December 19, 2018, 4:13 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Center for Responsive Politics: The Trump campaign funneled money to ad buyers alleged to have facilitated illegal coordination between the campaign and the NRA by routing funds through a secretive LLC that appears to be little more than a… Continue reading

North Carolina: “‘Do u care who u vote for?’ 2016 investigation found evidence of ballot harvesting”

December 19, 2018, 4:04 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

News and Observer: McCrae Dowless, a Bladen County elected official and political operative, paid workers to collect absentee ballots and return them to him before the 2016 election, witnesses told state board of election investigators, according to documents released … Continue reading

Remember “American/Western Tradition Partnership” Involved in Montana Elections in Case that Went to SCOTUS? Looks Like the National Right to Work Committee Was Secretly Behind It, Violating Montana Campaign Finance Laws

December 19, 2018, 9:36 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicanery, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Montana Free Press: Thousands of newly uncovered documents and recently filed court records bolster already mounting evidence tying the anti-union National Right to Work Committee to the political activities of conservative nonprofit groups accused of improperly coordinating Republican legislative… Continue reading

“Russia and Republicans attempt to suppress black vote, but Russians are slicker”

December 19, 2018, 9:00 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Joe Davidson WaPo column.

“Super PACs and Dark Money Groups Outspent Candidates in a Record Number of Races in 2018”

December 19, 2018, 8:58 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Report: As Democrats and Republicans battled for dominance in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2018, super PACs and dark money groups collectively outspent the candidates’ own campaigns in a recordbreaking 16 races, according to data… Continue reading

#NC09: “Attorney: Man at center of 9th District election investigation has violated no laws”

December 19, 2018, 8:54 amcampaignsRick Hasen

WRAL: The attorney for McCrae Dowless, the Bladen County political operative at the center of a state investigation into election irregularities in the 9th Congressional District, said Tuesday that her client “has not violated any state or federal campaign laws,… Continue reading

North Carolina Governor to Veto Bill Allowing a New Primary and General Election in #NC09 in the Event NC Elections Board Finds Fraud

December 18, 2018, 1:08 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

AP reports. As with the voter id bill, this one may be subject to a veto override. Republicans want a new primary in case the Republican candidate, Mark Harris, is tainted by the allegations of fraud in Bladen County.

Trump Foundation Shutting Down in Settlement as NY AG Finds, Among Other Things, Illegal Coordination with the Trump Campaign

December 18, 2018, 8:08 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children. The attorney general’s suit, filed in June, alleged… Continue reading

“Editorial: N.C. GOP, more than state Elections Board, needs transparency”

December 18, 2018, 7:51 amabsentee ballots, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WRAL editorial: It is hard to imagine where the North Carolina GOP leadership found the gall to have the Ninth Congressional District Republican Executive Committee pass a “resolution” demanding the State Board of Elections “immediately certify” Mark Harris the… Continue reading

“Tulsi Gabbard’s birthplace could create political fodder in national campaign”

December 17, 2018, 5:37 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

Star Advertiser: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was born a U.S. citizen and served two tours of duty in the Middle East as a member of the Army National Guard. She’s served in elective office — as a member of the… Continue reading

“The mostly unanswerable question: Which close races were won by dirty tricks?”

December 17, 2018, 8:32 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Philip Bump for WaPo: When Georgia’s secretary of state, Brian Kemp, announced on the weekend before this year’s midterm elections that Democrats in the state had tried to illegally access the state’s voter database, the announcement was treated with a… Continue reading

Today’s Must-Read: “Russian Effort to Influence 2016 Election Targeted African-Americans”

December 17, 2018, 8:26 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: The Russian influence campaign on social media in the 2016 election made an extraordinary effort to target African-Americans, used an array of tactics to try to suppress turnout among Democratic voters and unleashed a blizzard of posts on Instagram… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law