BACKER PROFILE. USAT. “Government watchdogs view McCutcheon, argued before the justices last October, as the biggest threat to campaign-finance regulations since the high court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling allowed the use of unlimited corporate and union money to influence candidate races.”
PROSECUTORS: GRAY KNEW. Fox News. “D.C. Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray knew about an illicit ‘shadow campaign’ that boosted his 2010 election run, federal prosecutors said Monday, a startling revelation in the years-long federal investigation into the off-the-books campaign activity. Gray has steadfastly denied such knowledge.”
NOT GUILTY PLEA. Local10.com. “An associate of former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., has pleaded not guilty to four campaign finance violations involving alleged illegal contributions to a previously unknown candidate.”
MEET TOM STEYER. NJ. “Steyer isn’t campaigning for any office, but in little more than a year, the environmental advocate has catapulted from a member of the national Democratic donor community to one of the party’s biggest political spenders.”
FL: $500K MISTAKE. Naples News. “There’s a bit of a $500,000 mystery associated with the re-election campaign of Gov. Rick Scott.”
HI: SUPER ALOHA. Civilbeat.com. “The two Hawaii residents, both deeply experienced in local politics, recently filed paperwork with the state Office of Elections to set up a political action committee called Hawaii’s Future.”
IA: ANONYMOUS GIVING. Globe Gazette. “The unlimited, anonymous money that shook the 2012 elections may be poised to make its way down the ballot.”
MI: UNION FINE. MLive.com. “The Service Employees International Union will pay almost $200,000 to settle alleged campaign finance violations from a failed 2012 ballot proposal seeking collective bargaining rights for home health workers.”
NJ: TRENTON PAY TO PLAY NEWS. The Trentonian. “Mayor George Muschal released a statement Friday night in response to a possible illegal donation to Eric Jackson’s campaign after city officials waffled this week as to which department would investigate the matter.”
NY: QUESTIONS FOR CUOMO. NYDN. “National liberal groups are questioning Gov. Cuomo’s commitment to creating a state campaign public financing system similar to the city’s.”
PA: SUPER PAC HELP. The Sentinel. “A Washington-based political action committee that spent millions on behalf of Democratic candidates for the New Jersey Legislature last year plans to provide similar aid in 2014 to Democrats running for Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature.”
AUSTRALIA: KEY “NOT” MISSING. Yahoo News. The country’s electoral commission apparently adjudicates the truth of campaign posters: “The Electoral Commission has clarified Labor election posters targeting independent Senator Nick Xenophon’s X-Team candidates are not misleading after mistakenly stating they were.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.