David Mitrani was quoted today in Politico about the application of the Citizens United case in state elections, and on state-level Super PACs. Mr. Mitrani highlighted the fact that several states still have not incorporated Citizens United into their laws.
Mr. Mitrani told Politico:
“In the states where there are holdouts, there is no legal impediment to the super PAC form,” said David Mitrani, an election attorney with the Democratic law firm Sandler Reiff Young & Lamb. “It is the law of the land.”
According to Mitrani, about a half-dozen states have still not incorporated a super-PAC like form into their election laws — and other lawsuits may follow.
On Sunday, Politico reported on the dire financial straits many state parties are facing as donors are increasingly giving more to Super PACs than state parties. Using data provided by Sandler, Reiff, Young & Lamb, Politico crunched state party campaign finance data from 2000 through 2013, and found a near universal decline in fundraising numbers:
On both sides of the ledger, state parties have shown signs of financial strain. For in-state elections, state parties raised an average of $5.4 million in 2000. By 2008, that number had dropped to $4.1 million. By 2012, it was $2.8 million.
On the federal side, just four state parties out of 100 — all Republican — had more than $1 million of federal funds in the bank at the end of 2013.
Politico cited an increasingly competitive fundraising environment and a number of federal rules that restrict how state parties can raise and spend money. In response, state party leaders have called on Congress to loosen such restrictions, and allow them to remain politically viable.