The day after political law links

CONSUMERS UNITED. Manufacturing.net. “The NAM and many others insist that unlimited campaign financing is democratic. However, there is another side to the story.”

FIRM PERSONNEL GIVING. Bloomberg. “While the electorate may be trending Republican in today’s mid-term elections, the nation’s largest law firms are decidedly Democratic in their political contributions.”

CA: WILDLY WRONG. Bizjournals.com. “As voters go to the polls, proponents of Proposition 45 say the California Secretary of State’s campaign finance website has wildly exaggerated their fundraising and expenditures for the high-profile ballot measure.”

CA: WARNING TO YES ON S. Independent.com. “Advertisements for ballot measures must identify any contributor that gives $50,000 or more.”

CA: SEAL USE. Merced Sun Star. “An Atwater City Council candidate mailed 10,000 campaign fliers to residents over the weekend containing the logos of the city’s police and fire departments – a violation of the state’s election laws – and without the authorization of those agencies’ leaders.”

CO: NEW SYSTEM. Gazette.com. “Campaign finance reporting in Colorado Springs just went paperless. The City Clerk’s Office launched an electronic campaign finance filing system for the April 7, 2015 general municipal election.”

MT: COMPLAINT DISMISSED. Flathead News. “The new mailers, titled ‘Montana Voters’ Guide for Judicial Elections,’ were sent by Montanans for Liberty and Justice, a group supporting Supreme Court Justice Mike Wheat’s re-election campaign.”

NC: FAXED IT IN. WECT. “Three of Rep. Ken Waddell’s campaign finance reports filed with the State Board of Elections in recent weeks were faxed from the Whiteville City Schools, despite a district policy that prohibits school resources from being used for political activities.”

OK: VIRGIN VIOLATION. Enid News. “The Oklahoma Commission on Judicial Elections on Friday ordered McClain County Special Judge Jeff Virgin to publicly admit to repeated law violations committed during his campaign for a new District Judge post in Cleveland County.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Election Day Political Law Links

GRIMES PAID. Politico. “Democratic Senate hopeful Alison Lundergan Grimes’ campaign appears to have shelled out $17,000 to shuttle Hillary Clinton into Kentucky to attend a rally last month.”

MSRB MOVES ON BOND ADVISERS. Bloomberg. “Financial advisers to U.S. state and local governments would be barred from using political contributions to win business under a proposal advanced by bond-market regulators.”

REPORT OF COMPLAINT FILED. WIBW. “The GOP says it has photographic proof that the Kansas Democratic Party is working on behalf of Independent Greg Orman’s senate campaign.”

GRIMM DONATION. NYDN. “Rep. Michael Grimm made a possibility telling misstatement last week that ties him to an ex-girlfriend who pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud.”

SUPER PAC WENT BIG. Time. “If Democrats lose control of the U.S. Senate, it won’t be because they didn’t fully unleash the powers available to them in a post-Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission era of politicking.”

UNIONS TOP KOCH. WFB. “Seven labor unions have given more money to super PACs than the Koch Brothers.”

BLURRED LINES. WP. “The 2014 midterm elections mark a new level of collaboration between candidates and independent groups, eroding the barrier that is supposed to separate those running for office from their big-money allies.”

AMENDMENT FILED. Newsday. “Oops, make that a $45,000 ad attack on Democrat Kathleen Rice, according to an amendment filed with the Federal Election Commission this afternoon by the Independent Majority Group.”

KS: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT. Kansas.com. “With the election less than a week away, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office will ‘expeditiously’ investigate a complaint that the group opposing the 1-cent sales tax has violated state law with its political advertising, a spokesman says.”

ME: COMPLAINT ON CAMPAIGN. BDN. “The complaint alleges that the committee, called the Maine Wildlife Conservation Council, should have included time that Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife staff spent campaigning against the referendum as donations in its campaign finance reports.”

MA: RGA IN. CW Magazine. “The RGA has poured $12.4 million into the race between Charlie Baker and Martha Coakley, and in doing so, the national Republican group has outspent the gubernatorial field. The two major candidates for governor, their running mates, and their political parties have combined to spend less this year than the RGA has spent.”

NM: SIGNS WILL STAY. ABQ Journal. “Campaign signs that have popped up around Corrales accusing a judge up for retention of being ‘anti-women’ and ‘ anti-family’ have prompted one formal complaint to the Secretary of State’s Office because they are unsponsored attack ads.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Political law links

RECORD FOR ADS. WP. “Total political advertising in 2014 is expected to reach a record $2.4 billion, up $100 million from four years ago, according to estimates by the Kantar Media research firm.”

LAWYERS READY. Roll Call. “On Tuesday, there will be attorneys stationed at each committee, as well as lawyers in state-based boiler rooms.”

LATE MONEY WAIT. Bloomberg. “Want to give a big donation to a super-PAC to lay a late hit on a political opponent and don’t want anyone to know until after the election? Do it right now.”

GLITCH BLAMED. Miami Herald. “Carlos Curbelo’s congressional campaign omitted or mislabeled $93,000 in contributions from special interests in finance report last month because of what the Miami Republican called an unintentional software ‘glitch.'”

AZ: CHARGES UPHELD. Tuscon.com. “A Maricopa County Superior Court judge rejected efforts by Attorney General Tom Horne to kill charges that he violated state campaign finance laws in his 2010 election.”

DE: COMPLAINT FILED. WDEL. ”The Delaware Democratic Party has filed multiple alleged campaign finance violations with the state Elections Commissioner.”

FL: SELF-FUNDER FUNDS. Miami Herald. “Reports filed late Friday show that Gov. Rick Scott and his wife, Ann, used their family fortunes to help finance his campaign by writing a series of checks for $12.8 million in the last month of the bitterly fought race for his re-election.”

NH: VIOLATIONS ALLEGED. Concord Monitor. “In a complaint dated Oct. 23, the coalition said Americans for Prosperity and the National Education Association Advocacy Fund did not register with the New Hampshire secretary of state as required by state law and did not report campaign expenses on time.”

NH: KENNEDY RESPONDS. WTNH. “Kennedy accepted public funding for his campaign. He also accepted money from the Democratic State Central Committee. Kennedy, and family members donated personal money to the DSCC, as they are allowed to do.”

NY: CUOMO ON SYSTEM. NYDN. “Citing the influx of superPAC spending in New York, Gov. Cuomo Friday warned that efforts to impose a statewide public campaign financing system will be more like ‘putting Band-Aids on multiple bullet wounds.'”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.