In the News

Bloomberg BNA: Ruling Against Colorado Disclosure Law Left Intact

By Kenneth P. Doyle

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a federal appeals court ruling that said Colorado’s campaign finance disclosure requirements could not apply to a group that raised and spent only $3,500 to influence a ballot initiative ( Williams v. Coalition for Secular Government , U.S., No. 16-28, cert. denied 10/3/16 ).

The Supreme Court’s Oct. 3 action denying the state’s petition for review was “the final chapter for Colorado’s speech laws that buried grassroots groups in red tape,” Tyler Martinez, an attorney for the nonprofit Center for Competitive Politics (CCP), said. CCP, a critic of campaign finance regulation, represented the challenger of the Colorado disclosure law, a nonprofit group called the Coalition for Secular Government.

“When a few citizens want to voice an opinion, the government can’t subject them to burdensome disclosure rules designed for multimillion-dollar campaigns,” Martinez said.

FEC

CRP: FEC challenged again to find coordination in current campaigns

By Soo Rin Kim

In a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission today, the Campaign Legal Center contends that the pro-Clinton group, Correct the Record, was off base when it announced that coordination rules don’t apply to its work because it provides free online content, rather than producing and placing ads with TV stations. CLC argues that because the content is produced by professionals, rather than by volunteers, the group is misapplying a narrow 2006 FEC regulation.

The pro-Trump super PACs named in a second complaint are Rebuilding America Now and Make America Number 1. Rebuilding America Now was formed by two top Trump staffers almost immediately after they left Trump’s campaign – ignoring the FEC’s 120-day cooling-off period intended to keep former staffers from carrying their knowledge elsewhere.

Washington Examiner: FEC complaint asks for crackdown on Clinton bloggers

By Rudy Takala

The FEC’s ruling could affect regulations governing online political speech. The group, formed in 2015 by Clinton confidant David Brock, has argued coordination rules should not apply because it is simply asking people to post messages favorable to Clinton on the web, rather than making campaign expenditures directly supporting her.

The Campaign Legal Center acknowledged that premise in a statement announcing the action, but argued that spending funds to promote online engagement should be regulated by the FEC. “Clinton’s attorneys are relying on a narrow 2006 FEC regulation that declared that content posted online for free, such as blogs written by unpaid volunteers, is off limits from regulation. 

Independent Groups

Newsweek: NRA Spending Big to Keep Senate in Hands of Pro-Gun Republicans

By Emily Cadei

If Republicans maintain control of the Senate this November, they’ll have to be sure to thank the gun lobby. In addition to spending millions of dollars on TV ads and other support for presidential nominee Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is playing a major role in election contests likely to decide which party has a majority in the Senate come 2017, an outcome that is very much up in the air right now…

Groups that run ads or other forms of voter outreach that explicitly support a candidate’s election must report that spending (called “independent expenditures”) to the Federal Election Commission within a span of a few days. But there’s plenty that outside groups do during an election that does not require immediate disclosure until the final weeks of the race-such as “voter education” on issues, which often skirts the direct-advocacy line. 

New York Times: With Senate Control at Stake, Koch Groups Start Endorsing by Name

By Carl Hulse

For the first time, some political groups under the umbrella of the billionaire conservative donors Charles G. and David H. Koch are embracing direct endorsement of Senate candidates – a marked shift from the more generic, issue-oriented ads and outreach such nonprofit organizations typically employ to steer voters to chosen candidates…

Such activity is legal for the nonprofit groups as long as they make sure it is not the majority of their spending, a fairly easy standard for such well-financed groups to meet. Spokespeople say the express advocacy campaigns constitute a small portion of their individual budgets.

Still, campaign finance watchdogs say such activity distorts what tax laws intended those “social welfare” groups to do, while allowing their backers to remain anonymous.

Wisconsin John Doe

Madison Capital Times: Reps. Chris Taylor and Dana Wachs: DA should probe big money that brings big favors

By Representatives Chris Taylor and Dana Wachs

This week, we joined many of our Democratic Assembly colleagues in calling for the Dane County district attorney to investigate new evidence of corruption by Gov. Scott Walker, the dark money group Wisconsin Club for Growth (WCFG), and the many corporations that funneled secret, unlimited money into the 2011 and 2012 recall elections…

Wisconsin led the nation in banning corporate donations to candidates or their campaign committees – with good reason. Courts recognized that candidates who benefited from corporate cash could be at risk of quid pro quo corruption, where corporations receive policy favors for donations.

In the face of recall elections, Walker and his campaign came up with a scam to get around this prohibition. He raised unlimited, secret corporate money for Republican recall efforts and funneled it to an entity he and his campaign essentially controlled, WCFG, which had no contribution limits or disclosure requirements.

Candidates and Campaigns

Charlotte Observer: Trump should follow Clinton’s lead on Citizens United, says GOP congressman

By Anna Douglas

North Carolina’s Walter Jones never minds bucking Republican leaders in Washington and now he wants Donald Trump to do the same when it comes to dealing a blow to big money in politics.

U.S. Rep. Jones, Republican from Eastern North Carolina, who has championed campaign finance reform for years, is among a small group in Congress hoping to elevate to the Supreme Court a recent complaint filed with Federal Election Committee. The complaint challenges campaign fundraising activities by 10 super “PACs” – political action committees which can take in an unlimited amount of donations from companies, individuals and unions but are prohibited from coordinating directly with candidates or political parties.

Activists working on the legal challenge want to eliminate super PACs and effectively undo a previous court decision from Citizens United in 2010. 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Feingold calls for all political groups to disclose donors 

By Bill Glauber and Daniel Bice

On Thursday, Feingold outlined initiatives to add “teeth” to laws on coordination between campaigns and third-party organizations. He also said that 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups engaged in electioneering – such as launching political and campaign-related ads – should disclose their donors…

Feingold said he wanted Congress to pass laws requiring disclosure of all political donations. He said political coordination should be subject to “criminal penalties.” Such coordination was the subject of a John Doe investigation into Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and conservative outside groups that has since been shut down by the courts.

Feingold would also turn the Federal Election Commission, which is deadlocked between Republicans and Democrats, into an administrative agency.

Center for Media and Democracy: Sanders Woos Progressives in Madison, Seeks to End Influence of Money in Politics

By David Armiak

Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-I) returned to Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday to campaign for a ticket that he said would overturn Citizens United.

Sanders won the Democratic primary handily in Wisconsin with 57% of the vote and now is using that credibility to encourage progressives to turn out for Hillary Clinton. Over a thousand came out to the Monona Terrace Convention Center to hear Sanders offer words of support for Clinton and Russ Feingold who is running to unseat U.S. Senator Ron Johnson.

In a lengthy speech, Sanders directly appealed to those who may have friends who are “unenthusiastic” about the election when he warned the packed hall to tell those still on the fence, that “the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson are enthusiastic.”

Wall Street Journal: White House Coordinated on Clinton Email Issues, New Documents Show

By Byron Tau

Newly disclosed emails show top Obama administration officials were in close contact with Hillary Clinton’s nascent presidential campaign in early 2015 about the potential fallout from revelations that the former secretary of state used a private email server…

Meredith McGehee, chief of policy, programs, and strategy at the nonpartisan advocacy group Issue One and an expert on ethics and campaign finance, said the email exchange would probably raise no legal concerns because federal law permits members of the White House staff to engage in some political activity. 

Politico: Clinton preps final-stage blitz against Trump

By Gabriel Debenedetti

Hillary Clinton is walking into the final stretch of this 2016 presidential contest with as much cash at her direct disposal as any White House contender in history. And her operatives expect her to use it to blanket the battleground states with both organizers and a heavy dose of anti-Donald Trump ads.

In-state Democratic operatives are planning for a significant tranche of the money – coming from the $150 million Clinton’s campaign and associated accounts had in the bank to start October – to be added to the previously announced $80 million television investment her team previewed at the start of this final phase, on top of other paid media and a heavily-funded get-out-the-vote push.

The States

The Oregonian: All Portlanders voices should be heard in elections (Opinion)

By Julia Meier and Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons

We represent tens of thousands of residents and voters, and call on the City Council to pass the “Open and Accountable Elections” reform this November. This reform will keep our government accountable to all Portland residents while increasing the opportunity for leaders from diverse communities to serve on City Council…

Here’s how it would work: If a candidate for city office can show a broad base of community support and volunteers to cap donations from wealthy donors or special interests at $250, their donations of $50 or less from Portlanders will be matched six times with limited public funds. 

The Columbian: In Our View: ‘Yes’ on Initiative 735

By Editorial Board

Make no mistake – Initiative 735 on the November ballot will not alter the U.S. Constitution or reform campaign financing or, really, do much of anything for now. Well, except to make those who decry the nation’s election system feel a little bit better, and there is some value to be found in that…

Critics of I-735 say the idea would quash the free speech of some, and that silencing speech in any form is undemocratic…  

But deciding that corporations do not have the same rights as individuals would do no such thing. Instead, it would limit political speech to a collective of individuals. Members of unions or nonprofit organizations still could contribute to the candidate of their choice, but those contributions would be subjected to the disinfectant that is sunshine rather than wallowing in the darkness of secrecy. Such transparency would be helpful in restoring the public’s faith in the nation’s election system.