Category Archives: campaigns
Harvard Law Review Covers New Hampshire Ballot Selfie Case, Rideout v. Gardner
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
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”
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
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”
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
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”
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
“Don’t Use the Ballot to Get Trump’s Tax Returns”
Derek Muller NYT oped.
I expressed a more ambivalent view here in Politico.
“Ballot Selfies Allowed as U.S. Supreme Court Rebuffs New Hampshire”
Greg Stohr:
Voters in New Hampshire are free to take selfies with their election ballots and post the photos online after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive a state ban on the practice.
The justices, without comment, left intact… Continue reading
“How States Could Force Trump to Release His Tax Returns”
I have written this piece for Politico. A snippet:
Now, though, a band of state lawmakers is attempting to succeed where so many others have failed. In at least 24 states, legislators have introduced bills that would force Trump… Continue reading
“Why Democrats Have a Shot in a Georgia District Dominated by Republicans”
Nate Cohn for NYT’s The UpShot:
Mr. Ossoff probably would not have raised nearly as much money if he’d been competing for attention with 434 other races. His fund-raising tally is better than that of 96 percent of the congressional… Continue reading
“Judicial Candidates’ Right to Lie”
Nat Stern has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Maryland Law Review). Here is the abstract:
A large majority of state judges are chosen through some form of popular election. In Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, the Supreme Court… Continue reading
“Rewriting the Rules of Presidential Succession”
Norm Ornstein in the Atlantic:
The Constitution leaves a lot of leeway for Congress. So it is time to consider a new law, one that cleans up the issues and discrepancies in the existing succession act but does more. It… Continue reading