In the News
Watertown Daily Times: Watertown man’s landscaping nightmare turns into First Amendment crusade
By DANIEL FLATLEYWith certain exceptions, town zoning law requires a property owner to obtain a permit to put up a sign.In saying no to Mr. Comenole’s large sign criticizing the contractor, officials said they are simply abiding by the town’s zoning ordinance, which requires that on-premise signs be limited to displaying the wording and graphics of a business, its principal service or purpose, its address and its phone number.But Mr. Comenole said they are trying to suppress his First Amendment rights.
Independent Groups
SSRN: The Business of American Democracy: Citizens United, Independent Spending, and Elections
By Tilman Klumpp, Hugo M. Mialon, and Michael A. WilliamsAbstract: In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that restrictions on independent political expenditures by corporations and labor unions are unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. We analyze the effects of Citizens United on election outcomes. The 50 U.S. states provide an ideal setting for this analysis, as the ruling only affected a subset of the states. We find that Citizens United is associated with an increase of approximately two percentage points in Republican election probabilities in state House races. The increase is estimated to be ten or more percentage points in several states. We link these estimates to qualitative, “on the ground” evidence of significant spending by conservative organizations funded in large part by corporations through channels enabled by Citizens United. However, we find no conclusive evidence that Citizens United has yet reduced candidate entry or direct contributions in state elections. Implications for national elections and possible regulatory responses are discussed.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
USA Today: Supreme Court’s campaign finance case gets new firepower
By Richard WolfWASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has granted Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell oral argument time in a major campaign finance case being heard in early October, giving opponents of current contribution limits new firepower.McConnell is the nation’s leading opponent of campaign finance restrictions, who lost his effort to defeat the McCain-Feingold law’s limits on corporate and union donations a decade ago but won the Citizens United case in 2010 that freed corporations to spend unlimited amounts independently on elections.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
NY Times: Bill Clinton to Raise Cash for Democratic Governors
By JONATHAN MARTINBill Clinton, who was the governor of Arkansas before moving to the White House, will return to his political roots — and earn a few more chits for his wife’s political future — next month by raising money for the Democratic Governors Association at a high-dollar New York City fund-raiser.
State and Local
New York –– NY Times: Advocate’s Post Gave de Blasio Platform for Political Ambitions
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZBut virtually no major American corporation has made the type of unfettered independent political expenditures permitted by Citizens United, and officials at the banks said that — even before Mr. de Blasio asked — there was never an intention to do so.
A former Goldman official, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about private deliberations, said the bank was fully aware of the public criticism it would confront if it engaged in “super PAC”-style spending; the official recalled Mr. de Blasio’s staff seeking a statement from Goldman that acknowledged the role of the public advocate, which the bank declined to provide.
Roy Smith, a professor of finance at New York University and a former Goldman partner, said the pledges announced by Mr. de Blasio’s office amounted to grandstanding. “It’s giving up nothing, because they weren’t doing this anyway,” Mr. Smith said. “It would be completely stupid for a large bank to be an active political donor in a hostile public-relations context.”
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New York –– NY Times: When Money Shouts
EditorialA tsunami of outside political money is cresting and crashing on the New York City primary election. The debris is all around: glossy leaflets, harsh TV ads, robocalls and pseudo-grass-roots events like the rally Wednesday in Greenwich Village denouncing the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, who is running for mayor. The event was sponsored by a group called NYC Is Not for Sale, a creation of one union boss and two wealthy business executives, who have channeled their antipathy — and about $1.4 million — into an all-negative campaign for the notional candidate they call Anybody but Quinn.
New York –– NY Times: Outside Groups Have Spent $3 Million on Mayor’s Race
By DAVID W. CHENWith little more than a week to go before the Democratic primary for New York mayor, outside groups have poured $3 million into supporting and opposing their preferred candidates, according to the most current figures through Sunday.The effect of those expenditures is being closely watched, because this is the first citywide election in which outside groups, like corporations and unions, have had an opportunity to spend unlimited amounts on campaigns in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case.
Virginia –– Washington Post: Gov. McDonnell described as aware of gifts from Virginia businessman
By Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. HeldermanVirginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell was aware of gifts and financial help provided by a wealthy Richmond area businessman during the same months the governor and his wife took steps to help his company, according to people familiar with documents and interviews gathered by federal investigators.
Alabama –– Fox: Losers claim school board vote bought with booze
The losing candidates in an Alabama city election say their opponents used booze to buy the votes of University of Alabama students.Denise Hills and Kelly Horwitz both lost city school board races on Tuesday and each candidate claims Crimson Tide students could account for the losing margin. Specifically, members of a sorority allegedly received an email saying they’d get free booze at two bars if they voted, The Tuscaloosa News reports.
California –– LA Times: California GOP violated campaign finance rules, watchdog says
By Patrick McGreevySACRAMENTO — The California Republican Party violated state campaign finance rules by failing to properly disclose its contributions last year to a campaign against newly drawn state Senate districts, the state’s ethics agency has concluded.In all, the state GOP provided $1.9 million in contributions, in-kind services and loans to the group Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting (FAIR), which qualified a ballot measure to overturn the new state Senate redistricting maps.
