CONGRATS! WP. It’s great to see the attention that my alma mater is getting due to its name change, which has been accompanied with a steady rise in its law school ranking: “George Mason’s new association with Scalia has drawn unprecedented attention to the 600-student law school. U.S. News and World Report ranks the law school 45th in the nation, tied with counterparts at Southern Methodist University and the University of Utah, and just ahead of schools at the universities of Florida and Maryland.” More: USAT. “George Mason University in the Washington, D.C., suburbs renamed its conservative-leaning law school in Scalia’s honor shortly after the 79-year-old justice’s death in February, which has left the Supreme Court with only eight justices amid a standoff between President Obama and Senate Republicans.”
OBSERVER LIMIT. WP. “The Justice Department is significantly reducing the number of federal observers stationed inside polling places in next month’s election at the same time that voters will face strict new election laws in more than a dozen states.”
DONOR CHARGED. ABC. “A well-heeled political donor and committee member at this summer’s Democratic National Convention was arrested Thursday and charged with using his health technology company to run a $30 million investment fraud scheme.”
BOTH SIDES. MJ. “A campaign finance watchdog has bad news: Everyone is breaking the rules in this election. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center announced Thursday that it had filed two sets of complaints with the Federal Election Commission, charging that the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are improperly coordinating with super-PACs that support them.”
DONATIONS TO AGS. WSJ. “In total, Mr. Trump has given about $140,000 to a dozen people who either were state attorneys general or running for the post from 2001 to 2014, according to donation records. Some of the recipients returned the contributions. Totals before 2001 weren’t available.”
CA: MEASURE FUNDING. SB. “Six weeks before the election, proponents and opponents of ballot measures had committed nearly $400 million, closing on the record of the 2008 election cycle.”
IL: JUST IN TIME FOR THE PLAYOFFS. CT. “The head of the city ethics agency has warned Chicago aldermen and other elected officials that if they accept the Cubs’ offer to buy coveted playoff tickets at face value, they must attend personally and have their presence announced publicly.”
MO: CONTRIBUTIONS POUR. K10 (video). “Since the Aug. 2 primary, there has been $27 million worth of contributions of more than $5,000 to candidates or causes.”
NY: WHO OWES. GG. “On September 15, the city’s Campaign Finance Board announced the latest round of fines coming out of the city election cycle that wrapped up nearly three years ago. The board penalized candidates from six unsuccessful campaigns — for City Council, Public Advocate and the Mayor’s Office.”
SD: GROUPS SPAR. AL. “Two organizations that urged supporters to donate money to a ballot committee that is promoting a constitutional amendment in South Dakota denied Thursday that they broke state campaign finance laws.”
TX: WHO’S HOUSTON SUPPORTING? HC. “According to the federal contribution database, more than a fifth of the $15 million Clinton has raised in Texas came from Houston — a significant figure given that the Houston region is largely seen as a Republican fort that’s beginning to swing blue.”
HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.