Ad Wars

In Louisiana, a hotly-contested primary in a race for Congress has resulted in a state judge ordering a spot off the air.  The court’s order does not seem to be available online.  The article notes that the move by the “court represents an unusual step in a political campaign and is made all the more extreme” by the judge’s order.  The controversy implicates serious issues under the Federal Communications Act of 1934, FCC rules, Supreme Court precedent, and National Association of Broadcasters’ guidelines. 

Sad Note from Michael Malbin

I share Professor Malbin’s sadness in learning from his email to the election law listserv that

Herbert E. Alexander, the dean of campaign finance scholarship in the United States, died of cancer on Thursday April 3.  He was 80 years old.

Alexander was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Southern California and had been director of the Citizens’ Research Foundation from its inception in 1958 through his retirement in 1998.  For twenty years, he also served as chairman of the International Political Science Association’s Research Committee on Political Finance and Political Corruption.   For the past ten years he lived in Silver Spring, Maryland for the past ten years, with his most recent work – a comparative project on disclosure in collaboration with the International Foundation for Election Systems – published in 2003.  A longer obituary will be printed in coming months in PS: Political Science and Politics, a publication of the American Political Science Association.

Lobbyist-Bundled Contributions

In an earlier post (February 2008) I noted the state of play on lobbyist-bundled contributions, given the new rules of HLOGA and the FEC’s lack of a quorum.  Today’s Post includes “FEC Nomination Impasse Stalls Disclosure of Bundling Data,” with helpful commentary from FEC Chairman David Mason:

“We are unable to issue regulations on any topic.  Because of the way the statute is written . . . this does mean that no lobbyist bundling reporting will be required in July,” David Mason, one of the two commissioners, said. “The effective date will continue to recede into the future until the commission regains a quorum.”

The article provides a good overview of the situation and quotes Fred Werthheimer: “We may not see any bundling information for the entire election year of 2008[.]”  Under current law, conduit reports provide bundling information under certain conditions, as the FEC files for two prominent campaigns show.   Undoubtedly HLOGA provides for increased disclosure of lobbyist-bundled contributions.