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Author Archives: Colin
Supreme Court Ruling Sparks Debate Over NYC Model’s Future
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court continued its recent streak of dismantling modern campaign finance laws: The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a key provision of an Arizona law governing the public financing of political campaigns. The Arizona law required public matching funds for participating candidates when their opponents who had opted out of the public system or independent groups increased their private spending. The court vote was 5 to 4, with the majority opinion — written by Chief Justice John Roberts — deciding that the law violated the First Amendment rights of candidates who raise private money. While it’s clear that the decision “struck down public disbursements that are triggered by another candidate’s spending, or by another interest group’s … More >>
Real Reform?
The NY Post offers this update on the ethics bill Governor Cuomo wants passed before this year’s budget debate: An increasingly frustrated Gov. Cuomo plans to step up pressure on the scandal-scarred Legislature to pass a tough ethics bill if an agreement isn’t reached within two weeks, a Cuomo administration source told The Post yesterday. Cuomo, whose staff has been holding secret talks with aides to legislative leaders on the proposal, will turn up the heat by introducing his own ethics bill in the Legislature, which would force lawmakers to say if they support it or not. Now, remember that Cuomo has stated that this bill “is not going to be a situation where the people of the state will … More >>
Tagged ethics, ethics reform, nys budget
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It’s About Mobilization, Not Enthusiasm
With six days left, Josh Marshall sums up where we’re at with the key Senate battlegrounds: Four races look to be realistically in doubt: Nevada, Colorado, Illinois and West Virginia. I’m still keeping a close eye on Pennsylvania and Kentucky. But Democrats need to rely on heroic assumptions to figure those as potential wins … Colorado and West Virginia has been trending toward the Democrats — with Colorado still probably ever so slightly leaning GOP and the reverse for West Virginia (note that Nate Silver just nudged both slightly in the Dem direction). Nevada has been trending toward Sharron Angle but by such a narrow margin it’s definitely still in play. And finally there’s Illinois where Kirk has had a … More >>
Get Out the Vote. Do It. Today. Or Sometime Between Now and Tuesday Night…
As you may be aware from all the annoying literature at subway stops, it is GOTV weekend — in non-pol speak, the final weekend — before the Democratic primary on Tuesday! In a nutshell, field operations are about spending months finding supporters, persuading just a few undecided voters along the way, and being able to actually reach and remind them (and remind them and remind them) to to vote when the election is near. Simple, right? Wrong! In reality, many campaigns don’t build up the volunteer base, or raise enough cash for a professional service, to effectively carry out a GOTV program. So why bother trying? Because studies have shown that person-to-person contact (all that mundane phone calling and canvassing) … More >>
So it’s Espada v. Rivera
Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter has ended her campaign against scandal-ridden Pedro Espada, clearing the field for former Gillibrand aide Gustavo Rivera. From Bronx News Network: Money, or lack of it, was the main reason she decided to end her bid, [Pilgrim-Hunter] said. Despite several fundraisers in supporters’ homes, she had raised only $30,000, while Espada already has more than $300,000 on hand. Liz Benjamin weighs in: For the record, [Bill] Samuels [of New Roosevelt Initiative PAC] called on Pilgrim-Hunter to drop out of the race, noting at the time the more narrow the field against Espada the better the chances are of ousting him Despite NRI’s endorsement, an objective indication of the race’s competitiveness will be how much Rivera has raised this … More >>
