10.30.18 political law links

MD:  KEY NUMBERS.   BS.  “Gov. Larry Hogan and his Democratic challenger, Ben Jealous, have filed their final campaign finance reports before the Nov. 6 general election. The reports cover the period between Aug. 22 and Oct. 21 — the heart of the campaign season.”

MO:  BALLOT MEASURE ISSUE.   KBIA.  “Among the measures Missouri voters will decide on Nov. 6 is Amendment 1: The Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and Redistricting Initiative. It would amend the state constitution to change several aspects of Missouri’s political system.”

OH:  POSSIBLE TESTIMONY.   F19.  “The Democrat is accused of illegally using money from his local Hamilton County Clerk of Courts campaign account in his federal race against longtime Republican incumbent Steve Chabot.”

NJ:  CATCHING UP.   INJ.   “By contrast with the federal system, New Jersey voters since 1999 have been able to look up online the campaign finance reports of all 120 legislators, including members of the Senate and the Assembly.”

TX:  AD LAUNCH.   TT.  “Some political groups on the left are borrowing a tactic from disinformation campaigns, placing ads on Facebook that pretend to be impartial information or unbiased news sources, when in fact the ads spread misleading facts about candidates.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY. 

10.29.18 political law links

SUPER PAC DONORS.   WP.  “Just 11 donors have injected $1 billion into U.S. political races in the past eight years through super PACs, the big-money entities that have given wealthy contributors a powerful way to influence elections.”

NEW LAUNCH.   TT.  “A new super PAC has formed to oppose U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s re-election, and it is wasting little time, announcing a $1.2 million ad buy with less than two weeks until Election Day.”

DE:  COMPLAINT REJECTED.   DO.  “Two prominent Republicans seeking re-election next month did not violate Delaware campaign finance laws as alleged by the state Democratic Party, elections commissioner Elaine Manlove has ruled.”

IL:  LAW FIGHT.   CN.  “Illinois election rules lawfully prevent independent expenditure committees from contributing directly to candidates running for state offices, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting a Republican Super PAC’s First Amendment challenge.”

IL:  BREAKING RECORDS.  NPR.  “Democratic billionaire J.B. Pritzker has given his own campaign for Illinois governor more than any other self-financed candidate in U.S. history. An heir to the Hyatt franchise, Pritzker has given his campaign $161.5 million.”

OR:  IT PROBLEMS.   OL.  “Oregon elections officials say the state’s campaign finance reporting system had a problem earlier this week that caused it to stop processing transactions for just one campaign: Republican governor candidate Knute Buehler.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

10.24.18 political law links

CREW FALLOUT.   NR.  “The commission didn’t require all nonprofit groups that fund political ads for or against candidates to unmask their donors, as reformers had hoped it would. Instead, it only required this of groups that solicited funds specifically for that purpose.”

ALLEGATIONS IN COMPLAINT.  MJ.  “Corporate records show that OnMessage and Starboard share the same offices and leadership. The Trace has documented six Senate races in which a Republican candidate hired OnMessage while, in the same cycle, the NRA paid Starboard for ads in support of the same candidate.”

CO:   TRAVEL SCRUTINY.   TG.  “A complaint over Gov. John Hickenlooper’s travels has merit and will be investigated, Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission has decided.”

CT:  CANDIDATE DENIED.   CP.  “Dennis Bradley, the state Senate hopeful in the 23rd District, has been denied about $95,000 in state campaign funding by the State Election Enforcement Commission.”

WA:  CORPORATE FUNDING.   ST.  “One Washington state lawmaker wants election ads by political-action committees to display logos of their corporate donors, and some kind of warning label.”

WA:  MAILER QUESTIONS.   KUOW.  “Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission said Monday it’s received nine complaints about a series of controversial mailers that were sent to voters in Thurston County and four hotly contested state legislative districts from coastal Washington to Spokane.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.