Today’s political law links

FEC MEETING: WHAT HAPPENED? In the Arena. “For the first time since January, the Federal Election Commission held a meeting at which a majority of six Commissioners agreed on an advisory opinion.”

TOP LOBBYISTS. The Hill. “Among the thousands of advocates in the nation’s capital, only a select few have risen to the top of their profession to earn a slot on The Hill’s Top Lobbyists list.”

SUPER PAC SPENDS. Here. “A conservative super PAC is pending $332K on independent expenditure against Sen. Mitch McConnell in his 2014 re-election race in Kentucky.”

SUPER PAC CHANGES. Here. “With no fanfare, Todd Ricketts — the low-profile member of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs — became the CEO of one of the nation’s largest conservative political action committees last March.”

FL: TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Politico. “Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who’s broadcast his intent to spend heavily in the 2014 election, is set to launch an ad blitz the same day that Democrat Charlie Crist announces his all-but-assured candidacy in the race, a media-tracking source told POLITICO.”

TX: ID ISSUES. NPR. “Texas judges are accustomed to a certain level of respect, even deference as they go about their daily business in the Lone Star State. So imagine Judge Sandra Watts’ surprise when she went to cast her vote last week and was told there was a problem.”

VA: FUNDRAISING DISPARITY. Here. “The race for cash has turned into a rout in the final days of the contest for Virginia governor, with front-runner Terry McAuliffe exponentially outraising Ken Cuccinelli II — particularly from companies that have legislative interests in Richmond.”

VA: SIGN OF THE TIMES. Here. “The brother of the Democratic candidate for Fairfax County sheriff was charged Thursday with petit larceny for allegedly stealing two of the Republican candidate’s signs outside a Vienna restaurant, Vienna police said.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Halloween political law links

BIZ BACK FROM THE DEAD.  Roll Call.  “An under-the-radar special election in Alabama next week will provide the first post-shutdown test case for moderate, business-friendly Republicans seeking to neutralize the GOP’s tea party faction that nearly led the country to credit default earlier this month.”

RELATIVE FRIGHT.  Here.   “As a former House staffer, I’m pretty sure members are not allowed to hire relatives to work in their offices. What’s the deal?”

TAX ISSUE SCARE.  Here.  “The Office of Congressional Ethics has ended its preliminary review of a 2011 incident in which Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, inadvertently paid a personal tax bill with campaign funds.”

MYSTERIOUS MEMO.  See the attachment to a recently released Statement of Reasons in MUR 6543.

CA:  CREEPY RESOLUTION.  Here.  “The California Fair Political Practices Commission has issued a formal warning to San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep, closing an ethics complaint that was filed against him over campaign funding issues.”

CA:  “DARK MONEY” CRIES.  LAT.  “When the sky became the limit for most political spending after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, the skywatchers like Ann Ravel had to readjust their telescopes.”

CA:  INFLAMING FEARS.  Mercury News.  “But what’s needed, at minimum, is a federal Disclose Act, which is stalled in Congress.”

CT:  FRIGHTFUL FINANCING.  The Courant.  “Hartford has a chance to join the 16 or so other cities nationwide that successfully use public campaign financing for local elections.”

NV:  PULLING THE PLUG.  Here.  “Gov. Brian Sandoval pulled the plug Tuesday on a program that offered video chats and lunch with the state’s chief executive in exchange for monthly campaign donations.”

NY:  HIRING HORROR.  Here.  “Following some rare public discord, the members of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics on Tuesday announced the hiring of a lawyer close to Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the integrity operation’s new executive director.”

NY:  INFERNAL BAN.  NY Daily News.  “The Queens City Council hopeful is an Air Force vet, a retired NYPD captain, and — thanks to the city Campaign Finance Board’s rulebook — pictured without his American flag lapel pin in his official candidate photo.”

TX:  SECRETS OF THE COMMISSION.  Here.  “State ethics regulators are weighing complaints sparked by the political campaigning and legislative influence of the conservative gadfly Michael Quinn Sullivan, Empower Texans and related organizations. But you won’t get a chance to watch most of it.”

VA:  BLOODBATH?  The Hill.  “Three new polls released Wednesday found Democrat Terry McAuliffe (D) remains the front-runner in Virginia’s race for governor — but each painted markedly different pictures of the state of the race.”

VA:  THE WALKING DEADLINE.  Here.  “Failure to file a campaign finance report update that was due Monday will cost Montgomery County Board of Supervisors incumbent Jim Politis at least $100, according to county Voter Registrar Randy Wertz.”

WA:  GRISLY DEAL.  Here.  “The political action committee for Seattle’s Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce has reached a preliminary deal with the city’s Ethics Commission over a complaint that it broke election rules to help Ed Murray’s mayoral campaign.”

HAVE A GREAT HALLOWEEN.

Today’s political law links

WHEELER CONFIRMED.  Here.  “The Senate unanimously confirmed Tom Wheeler, an investor and former industry lobbyist, to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday.”

TRICK OR TREAT.  The agenda for tomorrow’s Federal Election Commission meeting is online here.

AD BARRAGE.  Politico.  “The Democratic-leaning group Patriot Majority is going on air for the next week with a major TV ad buy in Kentucky and Ohio, hitting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), two media tracking sources told POLITICO.”

CHAMBER V. TEA IN AL.  Here.  “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a group that regularly spends millions to boost business-friendly congressional candidates, will endorse former state Sen. Bradley Byrne in Alabama’s 1st District special election on Tuesday.”

POST VIEW ON DC CFR.  Here.  “The bill would cap money-order donations, mandate training for campaign treasurers, make candidates liable for violations and give jurisdiction to the D.C. attorney general to prosecute violations.”

FL:  33 RULES FOR LOBBYISTS.  Here.  “15. You must never, ever break the law and counsel the client on this as well.”

IA:  REVIEW OF RULES.  Here.  “The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board is set to consider how state lobbying rules apply to Gov. Terry Branstad’s former chief of staff.”

MI:  SUPER PAC REPORTS.  Here.  “A super political action committee supporting Detroit mayoral candidate Mike Duggan has raised $2.8 million overall and $1.4 million in the latest period, according to a recently released quarterly report.”

NY:  CONTRIBUTIONS LINKED TO POLICY.  The Times.  “Each June the great pile of stones that is the New York State Capitol in Albany doubles as a legislative bakery, and its denizens serve up a stream of outlandish delights for their favored clients.”

NY:  PAY TO PLAY ADDRESSED.  Here.  “State Sen. Patrick M. Gallivan, R-Elma, said Friday that he is sponsoring legislation aimed at addressing the alleged pay-to-play culture that exists between private contractors vying for procurement and service contracts and state government.”

VA:  WORLD SERIES AD.  Here.  “A Texas-based conservative Super PAC will run a television ad taking aim at Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe during Game 5 of the World Series on Monday evening.”

VA:  PLANNED ADS.  Here.  “The national group Planned Parenthood Votes is poised to launch radio ads in the Virginia attorney general race, in a late-game attempt to sink Republican Mark Obenshain and complete a Democratic sweep of the state’s top offices, POLITICO has learned.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.