Category Archives: campaigns

“Older People Shared Fake News on Facebook More Than Others in 2016 Race, Study Says”

January 11, 2019, 8:19 amcampaignsRick Hasen

NYT: When it came to sharing fake news on Facebook during the 2016 election, no age group was quite as active as those aged 65 and older, according to a new study. The study, published Wednesday in Science Advances,… Continue reading

“New ‘Testing the Waters’ Report Examines How Presidential Candidates Ignore Campaign Finance Laws & Regulators Let Them”

January 10, 2019, 8:55 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Release: Today, Common Cause released a new report on the many ways presidential candidates bend and break campaign finance laws as they barnstorm early primary states, fundraise, evade contributions limits, and build their campaign teams while denying they are… Continue reading

“Doug Jones Seeks Inquiry Into Misinformation Efforts in Alabama Senate Race”

January 10, 2019, 8:34 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Senator Doug Jones, the Democrat who was an unwitting beneficiary of misinformation tactics during a special election in Alabama in 2017, asked the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to investigate the episodes. Mr. Jones made his formal request for… Continue reading

“Here’s Trump Allies’ Plan To Meddle In The 2020 Democratic Primary”

January 10, 2019, 8:31 amcampaignsRick Hasen

BuzzFeed: The pair of outside groups tied closely to President Donald Trump has retained the top Republican opposition group in an effort to smother Democrats seeking to challenge him — and perhaps even help pick his 2020 challenger. The early… Continue reading

“AP Exclusive: NC election fraud probed long before 2018 race”

January 8, 2019, 4:51 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

AP: Long before accusations of absentee ballot fraud in a small North Carolina county cast doubt on the results of a heated 2018 congressional race, a state elections investigator spent weeks probing whether the man at the center of the… Continue reading

“How a little-known Democratic firm cashed in on the wave of midterm money”

January 8, 2019, 3:16 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: The solicitations piled into voters’ email accounts — sometimes multiple times a day. And they carried alarming messages, often in blaring capital letters. “We’re on the verge of BANKRUPTCY.” “Our bank account is ALMOST EMPTY!” “Trump is INCHES away… Continue reading

“Democrats Faked Online Push to Outlaw Alcohol in Alabama Race”

January 7, 2019, 9:35 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: The “Dry Alabama” Facebook page, illustrated with stark images of car wrecks and videos of families ruined by drink, had a blunt message: Alcohol is the devil’s work, and the state should ban it entirely. Along with a companion… Continue reading

“Secret campaign to use Russian-inspired tactics in 2017 Ala. election stirs anxiety for Democrats”

January 6, 2019, 3:04 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: A secret effort to influence the 2017 Senate election in Alabama used tactics inspired by Russian disinformation teams, including the creation of fake accounts to deliver misleading messages on Facebook to hundreds of thousands of voters to help elect… Continue reading

“Republicans Seek to Boost Small Donations, but a Fragmented System Stymies Them”

January 4, 2019, 9:56 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Last year at this time, Republicans feared the “blue wave,” a surge of voter enthusiasm for Democrats in the midterm elections. With the election over, and the fears of Republicans partially realized, the party’s worry has shifted to the… Continue reading

“LinkedIn Co-Founder Apologizes for Deception in Alabama Senate Race”

December 28, 2018, 8:27 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Reid Hoffman, the tech billionaire whose money was spent on Russian-style social media deception in a Senate race last year, apologized on Wednesday, saying in a statement that he had not approved the operation and did not support such… Continue reading

“Disinformation campaign targeting Roy Moore’s Senate bid may have violated law, Alabama attorney general says”

December 27, 2018, 10:32 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Thursday that his office is exploring whether disinformation tactics deployed against Republican Roy Moore during last year’s special election violated state campaign laws and said he was worried that the operation could… Continue reading

“Updated: The Hidden Money Funding the Midterms”

December 27, 2018, 7:39 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

ProPublica: Allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used a blind spot in campaign finance laws to undercut a candidate from their own party this year — and their fingerprints remained hidden until the primary was already over. Super PACs,… Continue reading

“Janus Unleashed; In 2018, SCOTUS went after public-sector unions. Next up: a case that could decide the fate of public election financing.”

December 26, 2018, 3:31 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Mark Joseph Stern for Slate: Last Monday, the Washington Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Seattle’s “democracy vouchers,” an innovative public financing scheme that’s already spreading to other cities. The measure has already allowed more young people, women,… Continue reading

“Black Voters, a Force in Democratic Politics, Are Ready to Make Themselves Heard”

December 26, 2018, 8:28 amcampaignsRick Hasen

NYT: The first votes of the Democratic presidential primary remain more than a year away, but black voters are keenly aware of the prominent role they will play in choosing the next nominee. In 2016, Mr. Sanders’s “political revolution” flamed… Continue reading