Category Archives: campaigns

“Georgia special election smashes all-time spending record”

May 6, 2017, 6:01 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: It’s official: Georgia’s special election will be the most expensive House race in U.S. history. Candidates and outside groups have aired or reserved more than $29.7 million worth of TV ads in the race to replace HHS Secretary Tom… Continue reading

“Hacked records show Bradley Foundation taking its conservative Wisconsin model national”

May 6, 2017, 5:58 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Daniel Bice for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Long a player on the national stage, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee has been quietly using its vast resources to construct state-by-state networks of activist groups to win support for… Continue reading

“Pro-Trump super PACs have already spent $1 million on Election 2020”

May 5, 2017, 7:36 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Dave Levinthal reports for CPI.

“The Ways That the 2016 Election Was Perfectly Normal”

May 1, 2017, 7:45 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

Lynn Vavreck for NYT’s The Upshot: Despite the robust record of these models, they didn’t get much attention leading up to 2016. Mr. Trump was such a nontraditional candidate — in his fund-raising; support for atypical G.O.P. positions on trade… Continue reading

“Democracy Fails the Turing Test”

April 28, 2017, 4:20 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs.

Millions Spent on Soda Tax Fight in Santa Fe, NM

April 26, 2017, 8:53 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Albuquerque Journal: Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a $400,000 cash donation to the political committee supporting the proposed tax on sugary beverages in Santa Fe, bringing his investment in the effort to more than $1.13 million.… Continue reading

“‘Dark money’ vs. corporate cash: Democratic rivals clash over funding”

April 21, 2017, 7:39 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo on the Va governor’s race.

Harvard Law Review Covers New Hampshire Ballot Selfie Case, Rideout v. Gardner

April 14, 2017, 9:19 amcampaignsRick Hasen

Very nice treatment of the case: Vote buying, a practice carried over from England’s early experiments with democracy, was widespread in United States elections until the modern era.. A 1905 study of a New York City election, for example, found… Continue reading

Fewer Than 200 Ultra-Wealthy People Collectively Spent $1 Billion on 2016 Election

April 14, 2017, 9:11 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

That tidbit and much more in Open Secrets tally of Election 2016: That’s why we also looked at the top 1 percent of 1 percent of donors, a group of less than 200 people who spent almost $1 billion combined… Continue reading

“Political Parties and Candidates Dominated the 2016 House Elections While Holding Their Own in the Senate”

April 13, 2017, 9:34 amcampaign finance, campaigns, political partiesRick Hasen

New CFI analysis: Perhaps it is time to stop bemoaning the weakness of political parties in financing federal elections. The prevailing opinion is that since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC, “outside groups” accepting unlimited contributions… Continue reading

Look at How Much Influence Super PAC Donors Have Over Even Very Rich Presidents

April 13, 2017, 7:51 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Mr. Bannon’s allies have already begun discussing a post-White House future for him. On Friday, his main political patron, Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of Robert Mercer, a major Trump donor, holed up in her office at Cambridge Analytica in… Continue reading

“Campaign mailer with photoshopped images draws accusations in L.A. City Council race for Valley seat”

April 11, 2017, 8:05 amcampaignsRick Hasen

LAT: Phootoshopped campaign mailers sent in a Los Angeles City Council race in the San Fernando Valley are sparking accusations of election law violation and counterallegations of hypocrisy. A political advocacy group called Latinas Lead California sent a “cease and… Continue reading

Chevron Corp., Private Prison Corporation Give Money to Super-PAC Running Islamophobic Ad Against Jon Ossoff

April 7, 2017, 7:54 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Good catch by Adam Smith. More here on the ad tying the Democratic candidate in the GA special election to Osama bin Laden.

“The Consequences of Election Timing”

April 3, 2017, 1:05 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

Vlad Kogan, Stephane Lavertu and Zachary Peskowitz have posted this working draft. Here is the abstract: There is considerable debate about how election timing shapes who votes, election outcomes, and, ultimately, public policy. We examine these matters by combining… Continue reading