Latest Developments:
How Buckley Changed the Rules for Spending
More than 50 years after Buckley v. Valeo, the New York Times analyzed how it led to the end of post-Watergate campaign finance restrictions that would have “largely eliminated the ability of wealthy people to buy elections.” The Times explored how the case and those that followed led to a 2024 election in which “independent expenditures by wealthy outsiders for the first time in history exceeded what the candidates’ own campaign committees spent” and six billionaires spent more than $100 million apiece to support the President’s election. New York Times – Buckley Case – 50 years later. A number of organizations have examined the law from various perspectives. Buckley v. Valeo: A Retrospective Series – Institute For Free Speech
New Jersey Agency Reflects on 2025 Election Year
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission released its 2025 Annual Report, reflecting on a record-breaking election year and the impact of new laws. For example, for the first time in a New Jersey gubernatorial election, independent expenditure committees were required to register with the agency and disclose contributors of at least $7,500 and all independent expenditures. The Report confirms that IE-only filers spent more than $74 million in the primary election and $82 million in the general election. NJ ELEC Annual Report – 2025
Hawaii Senate Bill Advances
As previously reported in Essential Ethics, Hawaii has passed a bill rewriting the law from which corporate powers draw their authority, attempting to find a way to fight back against Citizens United and prevent corporations from spending unlimited sums on elections. Absent a veto by the governor, the legislation will take effect and may serve as a model for other states. Senate Bill 2471 status and as highlighted by the advocacy organization Issue One. Hawaii’s pioneering, bipartisan effort to fight corporate and dark money spending in elections is a model for rest of country – Issue One
Using Influencers As a Key Campaign Strategy
The rise of “influencers” as paid supporters for campaigns is factoring into the California governor’s race, according to the Sacramento Bee, which reported on Tom Steyer’s use of social media personalities to boost his message. California law requires disclosure by those paid by a committee to support or oppose a candidate online or on an app, which may not always occur. How the Steyer campaign uses paid creators | Sacramento Bee and 2023 Legislation.
Lawsuit Challenges FEC Advisory Opinion on Canvassing Expenditures
The Campaign Legal Center is challenging a Federal Election Commission Advisory Opinion that held that “expenditures for canvassing that are coordinated with a candidate’s campaign committee are not “coordinated expenditures” for purposes of the FEC’s coordination regulations, and thus are not contributions subject to disclosure” or to the Federal Election Campaign Act’s amount and source limits. CLC v. FEC Lawsuit and FEC Advisory Opinion. The opinion will lead to the “wholesale evasion of FECA’s coordination provisions with respect to canvassing activities,” the lawsuit says.
In Case You Missed It:
AI Firms Spending Big on Lobbying
An “unprecedented deluge of money” is being poured by AI companies into lobbying, according to a New York Times report. This tracks with data analyzed by watchdog group Public Citizen that found that one-fourth of Washington D.C.’s 13,000 federal lobbyists are now involved in AI issues, up from 11 percent in 2023. A.I. Lobbying – NY Times The New York Times and others have also targeted AI campaign spending linked to raising fears of AI in China. Wired – Super PAC Backed by Open AI and Palantir
Donor Funding of “Great American Road Trip” Raises Ethics Concerns
Corporate donors such as Boeing and United Airlines funded travel by the U.S. Transportation Secretary and his family used for a YouTube series, the “Great American Road Trip,” raising ethics concerns. NY Times – Duffy Road Trip Duffy maintains the videos were designed to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics has asked the acting inspector general to investigate alleged violations of federal gift, travel, and other ethics laws. CREW letter
Mayor Skydives Into Ethics Investigation
After the Mayor of Chula Vista, California showed video footage of himself skydiving, then juxtaposed it with someone else actually falling from the sky and right into his “State of the City” address, the City Council opened an investigation into the costs, funding by corporate sponsors, and related ethics issues. Union-Tribune – CV Mayor See it for yourself: ABC 10
Compliance Getting More Complicated in Latin America
Law360 reports that companies that do business in Latin America are seeing “big shifts” that are “connected to cartel crackdowns and efforts to strengthen corporate regulations, including relatively recent pushes for voluntary self-disclosure.” Law360.com Latin America