Monthly Archives: July 2025

Small Donors Fuel the Left of the Democratic Party

July 24, 2025, 9:11 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

This WSJ article confirms what I have been saying for a while now (see also here), that small donors tend to fuel the more ideological wings of the parties. That’s all the more true for out of state (or… Continue reading

“New Eric Adams ‘Donors’ Say They Never Gave to His Reelection Campaign”

July 24, 2025, 7:27 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

The City reports: “Just weeks after the Trump administration pulled off the dismissal of corrupt fundraising charges against Mayor Eric Adams, it appears that his reelection campaign was at it again . . . . The Adams campaign in… Continue reading

“Michigan becomes latest target of Justice Department inquiry on voter roll maintenance”

July 24, 2025, 5:07 amDepartment of Justice, voter registrationDan Tokaji

Votebeat: The U.S. Justice Department is asking Michigan for a copy of its voter rolls and information about how the state maintains them, as well as a series of questions about its high levels of voter registration. In its … Continue reading

Rove on the Political Price of Conspiracy Theories

July 24, 2025, 4:59 amcheap speech, election subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadDan Tokaji

Karl Rove in WSJ, connecting the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein drama to election-related conspiracy theories: Other conspiracies await action by the White House…. Team Trump could produce evidence that confirms the conspiracy advocates were right. They could reveal just how… Continue reading

“Mike Lindell celebrates victory after appeals court voids $5M award in election data dispute”

July 24, 2025, 4:50 amelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadDan Tokaji

AP: A federal appeals court handed a victory Wednesday to Mike Lindell, ruling that the MyPillow founder doesn’t have to pay a $5 million award to a software engineer who disputed data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered… Continue reading

“House Republicans endorse stricter state and federal-led voter roll purges despite dearth of evidence on fraud”

July 24, 2025, 4:41 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

CyberScoop on efforts to make it easier to remove voters from the rolls, including changes to the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) proposed by Georgia’s Secretary of State: In a congressional hearing on state voter registration practices Tuesday, Republicans on… Continue reading

A quick redistricting thought: the idea of a “dormant” Election Clause

July 23, 2025, 7:39 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

Since Rucho, it’s been generally assumed that attempting to litigate against partisan gerrymanders in federal court is an utter nonstarter. I think this is largely correct, but it light of all the recent discussion over the efforts to make the… Continue reading

Condorcet Voting and the Cornyn-Paxton Race

July 23, 2025, 7:01 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

A new Common Ground Democracy post with this subtitle: “The upcoming U.S. Senate election in Texas perfectly illustrates the importance of this voting reform.” The post itself begins: “The University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government, as part of its… Continue reading

New Podcast: “This Old Democracy”

July 23, 2025, 9:35 amalternative voting systems, third partiesDan Tokaji

From the Center for Ballot Freedom: We have launched a podcast called This Old Democracy. (Political scientists often call our system “pre-modern,” meaning it’s really old, it’s falling apart in a lot of ways, and it definitely needs a… Continue reading

“Proxy Season Results Show Strong Support for Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability”

July 23, 2025, 8:07 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Bruce Freed, Dan Carroll, and Karl Sandstrom of the Center for Political Accountability, in the Harvard Law School Forum for Corporate Governance: “[V]otes for Governance proposals calling on companies to adopt political disclosure and accountability policies surged in the just… Continue reading

“Silicon Valley’s bet on Trump starts to pay off”

July 23, 2025, 5:56 amcampaign finance, lobbyingDan Tokaji

Washington Post: The White House on Wednesday plans to reveal how it will position the United States to lead a global race to develop artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the American tech sector, according… Continue reading

The Latest on Texas Redistricting

July 23, 2025, 5:52 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

NYT has this story on a possible Democratic walkout of the special legislative session: “Republicans in the Texas Legislature are planning to hold off on voting on measures to address the state’s deadly July 4 flooding until after they approve… Continue reading

White House and Allies Blocking GAO Inquiries

July 23, 2025, 5:17 amlegislation and legislaturesDan Tokaji

NYT reports: A federal watchdog has opened dozens of investigations to determine if President Trump and his top aides have illegally withheld billions of dollars in congressionally approved funds. Now, Republican lawmakers are working alongside the White House to… Continue reading