Campaign Finance | City Ethics

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play September 10, 2017

A new way to influence elections without transparency

We are seeing the first detailed evidence of the tampering that went on during the 2016 campaign for U.S. President. This is a whole new category of "nasty" that allows people without scruples to feed false information into the mix without any transparency. In this article, the NY Times lays out a host of Facebook and Twitter advertising that was purchased (estimated at $100,000 in paid advertising) but sources were never revealed - as you might expect.

November 5, 2015

Seattle Public Campaign Financing Initiative Passes

Seattle's public campaign financing Initiative I-122 passed easily on Tuesday. It should prove to be an excellent experiment in campaign finance vouchers, an idea that has been batted about at the federal level, as well.

October 16, 2015

Lobbyist Miscellany

Lobbyist Extortion

Ethics Codes & Reform October 1, 2015

Attempt to Make Gift Bans Unconstitutional in KY

It was only a matter of time before the U.S. Supreme Court's campaign finance opinions (and decisions at the trial and appellate level that have applied them to other situations) would be used to argue that conduct prohibited or limited by government ethics provisions are also protected as free speech by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play May 21, 2015

Super PACs Go Local, Big Time

Philadelphia's Democratic mayoral primary this week brings the national focus on Super PACs to the local level. In that primary, which is the most important election in that Democratically-inclined city, most of the money that was spent was spent by Super PACs, not by candidates.

March 29, 2015

Spring Reading: Corruption in America I

This is the first of four blog posts in which I will look at Zephyr Teachout's excellent new book, Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United (Harvard Univ.

March 23, 2015

A New Mayoral Charity in San Diego

According to an article yesterday on the Voice of San Diego website, yet another mayoral pet charity has been created in San Diego, called One San Diego.

Enforcement & Complaints February 25, 2015

Prosecutorial Interference with a Local Government Ethics Investigation

Yesterday, two members of a New York City council member's election campaign were indicted on criminal charges brought by a special prosecutor, who was appointed in 2012. Read this December 2014 New York Law Journal op-ed piece by Brennan Center (NYU) Chief Counsel and longtime New York City Corporation Counsel Frederick A.O.

Campaign Finance & Pay-to-Play February 25, 2015

The Value of a Chicago Referendum on Public Election Financing

Is it, as Every Voice says in its celebratory e-mail last night, an "exciting victory [that] sent a loud and clear mandate to city and state governments to fundamentally reform the way we fund elections so that everyday Americans can take back control of their democracy"?

December 22, 2014

Contingency Fees and Lobbying and Contracting with Attorneys General

There is a lot of disagreement over whether contingency fee arrangements between client and lobbyist should be permitted. Many cities, counties, and states prohibit arrangements where lobbyists are paid only if they succeed. The principal reason is that this arrangement encourages ethical misconduct. It encourages lobbyists to do everything they can to win, which may be good in a private adversary suit, but is not appropriate in a public context, where winning involves changes in public policy or obtaining public contracts, grants, or permits.

Subscribe to Campaign Finance