Category Archives: campaigns

“Trump Insiders Are Quietly Paying Teen Memers For Posts”

September 9, 2021, 8:06 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

HuffPost: In the fever swamps of Instagram, a network of right-wing meme accounts run by teenage boys and young men has erupted into an advertising powerhouse reaching millions. These memers — who regularly post far-right conspiracy theories, anti-vaccine propaganda and… Continue reading

“Virginia Republicans file suit over McAuliffe’s paperwork”

August 26, 2021, 5:00 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

AP: The Republican Party of Virginia filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the courts to remove Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe from the ballot for failing to sign an official form declaring his candidacy. The McAuliffe campaign dismissed the suit as… Continue reading

“New intel reports indicate fresh efforts by Russia to interfere in 2022 election”

August 13, 2021, 5:19 amcampaignsDerek Muller

CNN: The Biden administration is receiving regular intelligence reports indicating Russian efforts to interfere in US elections are evolving and ongoing, current and former officials say, and in fact, never stopped, despite President Joe Biden’s warnings to Russian President… Continue reading

“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