Monthly Archives: January 2018

“Why Asking About Citizenship Could Make the Census Less Accurate”

January 19, 2018, 7:45 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Lynn Vavreck for NYT’s The Upshot: The government dedicates tremendous resources to reminding people to return their census form and even sends people to the doors of households from which no form has been filed. Mostly, it gets results. But… Continue reading

Bob Bauer: “The Trump Campaign-Russia Alliance and Campaign Finance; A Response to Skeptics and a Statement of the Case”

January 19, 2018, 7:41 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bob Bauer deep dive. I was surprised the First Amendment got only a brief mention in this piece.

“The Supreme Court Is Finally Tackling Gerrymandering”

January 19, 2018, 7:35 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Bloomberg Businessweek, with the subhead: “Academics give SCOTUS cover to rule on extreme cases of redistricting.”

“A record $107 million was raised for Trump’s inauguration. So where did it all go? No one will say.”

January 19, 2018, 7:26 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Fredreka Schouten for USA Today: Nearly a year after President Trump’s inauguration, the committee that raised a record $106.7 million for the event has not disclosed how much surplus money it still has or provided a final accounting of its… Continue reading

From New Bauer, Ginsberg, Persily Report: “Fewer than 16,000 donors accounted for half the federal campaign contributions in 2016”

January 19, 2018, 7:24 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo on the new Bauer, Ginsberg, Persily report, with a troubling trend I wrote about in my 2016 book, Plutocrats United: More than 3.2 million Americans contributed to federal candidates in the 2016 elections, but fewer than 16,000 of… Continue reading

As Government May Shut Down, President to Headline $100,000-Per-Couple Fundraiser ($250K if you want to be at roundtable) at Mar-a-Lago Resort He Owns, Profiting from the Event Personally

January 19, 2018, 7:19 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Bloomberg: President Donald Trump will mark the first anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday with a celebration at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, with tickets starting at $100,000 a pair. That amount, according to the invitation, will pay for dinner… Continue reading

“An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct”

January 19, 2018, 7:16 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy NYDN oped.

“Actions, not words, tell Trump’s political money story”

January 19, 2018, 7:14 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

CPI report, with the subhead, “Rhetorically, he talked a liberal’s game. In reality, he’s like most conservatives.”

Breaking: Supreme Court, with Two Dissents, Stays Order to Redraw Congressional Districts After Lower Court Finding of a Partisan Gerrymander

January 18, 2018, 3:41 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

This just in: The application for stay presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is granted, and it is ordered that the order of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North… Continue reading

North Carolina Files Reply Brief for Stay in Partisan Gerrymandering Case; Supreme Court Can Issue Ruling at Any Time

January 18, 2018, 1:51 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Paul Clement’s reply brief for North Carolina. Here’s what I wrote last week about the stay request’s chances: Meanwhile, Paul Clement just filed a stay motion in the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case, where the lower court had just… Continue reading

Maryland: “Governor Larry Hogan Announces Nonpartisan Redistricting Reform Legislation, Joins Amicus Brief; Governor Will Support Plaintiffs in Benisek v. Lamone”

January 18, 2018, 1:28 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Republican governor in Democratic state will sign brief arguing the Supreme Court should rein in partisan gerrymandering.

Louisiana, Texas, Michigan, and South Carolina File Supreme Court Brief Supporting North Carolina’s Right to Engage in Unlimited Partisan Gerrymandering

January 18, 2018, 12:15 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Another amicus brief in connection to the stay request, this one from four Republican states: Fundamentally, partisan gerrymandering is the undeniable and historically permitted consequence of entrusting reapportionment to an inherently political body: state legislatures. Notwithstanding the misgivings that fact… Continue reading

Wisconsin: “Haas Asks Senators for Hearing and Confirmation Vote”

January 18, 2018, 8:39 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Release: Michael Haas, interim administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, has written to members of the Wisconsin Senate, asking them to hold a public hearing prior to the confirmation vote scheduled for January 23. “In the event that I am… Continue reading

Event tomorrow at BPC: The Changing Dynamics of Campaign Finance in the U.S.

January 18, 2018, 7:52 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

The Changing Dynamics of Campaign Finance in the U.S. WHEN: Friday, January 19, 2018 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. ET WHERE: Bipartisan Policy Center, 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC, 20005 Nate Persily, Bob Bauer, and Ben… Continue reading

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