Campaigns and Elections Tag Archive

Neil Reiff on McCutcheon: Parties Win

Neil Reiff was quoted in Campaigns & Elections magazine’s write-up on today’s McCutcheon v. FEC Supreme Court decision, striking down federal aggregate contribution limits. He told Campaigns & Elections that the “real winners will be national party committees. It’s been the national committees who are able to find and cultivate these larger donors. If an individual wants to triple max each year to the three national committees, that is $194,400 for the two-year cycle, way more than the aggregate limit.”

Under the old rules, an individual could only donate an aggregate of $74,600 per 2-year election cycle to all PAC and party committees, with a maximum contribution limit of $32,400 to any individual party committee. In addition, an individual could only donate an aggregate of $48,600 per cycle to all federal candidates, with a maximum contribution limit of $2,600 per candidate per election. Today’s decision strikes down the aggregate limits while preserving the contribution limits to individual candidates, PACs, and party committees.

Jim Lamb Fights False Super PAC Ads

Jim Lamb’s successful track record in fighting false and misleading Super PACs was highlighted in an article in Campaigns and Elections today. The article discussed ways to fight back against Super PAC television ads, which are afforded much fewer first amendment protections than candidate-sponsored ads. The article highlights Mr. Lamb’s success in fighting back when the facts are outright wrong or false. Backed up with research, Mr. Lamb breaks down each claim made by the Super PAC with a news-sourced rebuttal, imploring the station to protect the public from “false, misleading, and deceptive advertising.”

To read the full article, click here.

Reiff Offers Preview of Campaign Finance in 2014

Neil Reiff has written a new article for Campaigns and Elections magazine this morning, offering a preview of several campaign finance issues likely to come to the forefront in 2014. With 2014 midterms right around the corner, Mr. Reiff identifies five issues likely to make news in the new year:

  • Super PACs expanding their influence into state and local races
  • States raising contribution limits
  • The McCutcheon v. FEC Supreme Court case and its impacts on federal and state aggregate contribution limits
  • A continued push for more disclosure from 501(c)(4) groups, especially as it regards to political spending by such groups
  • Potential for a new push from Congress  to reform campaign finance laws, especially Super PAC

You can read Mr. Reiff’s entire article here.

Neil Reiff Quoted in Story on Super PACs

Neil Reiff was quoted today in a story in Campaigns and Elections magazine on the role of Super PACs going forward.  While many stories were written in the last week about the ineffectiveness of larger Super PACs, especially on the Republican side on the Presidential and Senatorial levels, Mr. Reiff argued that a more focused approach by Super PACs will be the way to go. He pointed to CREDO Super PAC, which spent under $700,000 to successfully oppose a number of Tea Party Republicans. Although Mr. Reiff told Campaigns and Elections that although flooding the airwaves became counterproductive for SuperPACs, they will refocus in future elections on improving get out the vote efforts.

Read the full article here.

Neil Reiff Pens Editorial in Campaigns & Elections Magazine

A new editorial by Neil Reiff was published in Campaigns and Elections magazine this morning. Titled “The Weakening of State and Local Parties,” Mr. Reiff discusses how ten years after the passage of BCRA, the law has crippled the ability of state and local parties to raise and spend money in non-federal races. While the rise of Super PACs has led to hundreds of millions of dollars of largely unregulated contributions and expenditures over the last few years, new regulations and court decisions have continued to restrict what state and local parties can do more and more.

Mr. Reiff argues that state parties serve a vital role, and through grassroots organizing, they can serve as a counterbalance to the negative media games that Super PACs play. Thus, Congress must act to restore some semblance of a level playing field for state and local parties.

Read the entire article here.

Neil Reiff Featured in Campaign & Election’s “Shop Talk”

Campaigns and Elections magazine is up with a new round table-style article today, reflecting on Citizens United and the “new world of money and politics,” featuring Neil Reiff. He discusses the impact of the SpeechNow.org case, the permeation of Super PACs into Senate and House races, the impact of BCRA on state and local parties, and more.

He was one of five election lawyers to be featured in the article, along with Mark Elias of Perkins Coie, former FEC Chair Robert Lenhard (now at Covington and Burling), former FEC Chairman Michael Toner (now at Wiley Rein), and Jason Torchinsky of Holtzman Vogel.