[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/17/13

Sun Feb 17 11:17:46 PST 2013

    Question of the Day <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47399>

Posted on February 17, 2013 11:13 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47399> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

How do those who hate super PACs but love gun control feel about how 
influential Mike Bloomberg has been in a contested congressional race in 
Illinois? Political Wire says 
<http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/02/17/hutchinson_drops_out_after_withering_attacks_from_bloomberg.html> 
some one reason a candidate is dropping out is the huge Bloomberg money. 
And the money could further influence the outcome of the race.

My view is that this spending 
<http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/opinion/hasen-super-pacs/index.html>is 
dangerous whether it comes from the left or the right.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    More SCOTUSBlog on Shelby County <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47397>

Posted on February 17, 2013 11:09 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47397> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Zachary Price 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-the-voting-rights-act-doesnt-need-to-treat-states-equally/>

Hans von Spakovsky 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-the-shelby-county-section-5-showdown/>

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting 
Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off

    "Virginia looks to toughen voter laws as Maryland does the opposite"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47394>

Posted on February 17, 2013 11:03 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47394> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Washington Examiner reports 
<http://washingtonexaminer.com/virginia-looks-to-toughen-voter-laws-as-maryland-does-the-opposite/article/2521743>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | 
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    Democracy Now! Talks Bauer-Ginsberg Commission with NAACP's Ben
    Jealous <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47391>

Posted on February 17, 2013 11:00 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47391> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Watch <http://t.co/Z9GmsUqz>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off

    "Texas redistricting appeal likely on hold at Supreme Court"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47388>

Posted on February 16, 2013 8:56 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47388> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The /San Antonio Express-News /reports. 
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Texas-redistricting-appeal-likely-on-hold-at-4284883.php>

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Posted in redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting Rights Act 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off

    A Peek at the Race Which Will Determine Partisan Balance of
    Wisconsin Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47385>

Posted on February 16, 2013 6:58 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47385> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-fracas-in-2011-figures-in-race-gh8q1jv-191549361.html> 
on round 1 of a two-round race:

    [The incumbent Justice] Roggensack has had the fundraising advantage
    <http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/campaign-reports-show-supreme-court-candidate-raised-no-money-se8nvcn-190722751.html>
    in the race, raising more than $235,000 through early February.
    Fallone has raised about $80,000. Megna -- who once said he planned
    to donate $100,000 of his own money to his campaign -- has put in
    just $10,000 and decided at the beginning of the year not to ask
    others for money, saying he would ramp up his campaign if he makes
    it through the primary.

    Roggensack is the only candidate with an ad
    <http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/190080581.html> on television.
    Her campaign is also being boosted by a spot run by the conservative
    Wisconsin Club for Growth
    <http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/190293471.html>. The other
    candidates are not getting help from outside groups.

    In an unusual move for a court race, Megna early in the campaign
    declared himself a Democrat
    <http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-candidate-declares-himself-a-democrat-opponent-of-voter-id-jt7uq72-182569621.html>
    and announced he supports gay rights and limits on guns. He said the
    other candidates should state their partisan leanings and spell out
    their stances on issues.

    Megna's positions didn't do anything to win him support from
    high-profile Democrats or their allies. That backing instead went to
    Fallone, who has received the endorsements of the Wisconsin
    Education Association Council and other labor groups, former U.S.
    Sen. Russ Feingold and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

    Meanwhile, Roggensack, 72, of Madison, has gotten financial support
    from Republican Party campaign committees and the endorsement of the
    anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life.

    Despite their partisan support, Roggensack and Fallone have rejected
    Megna's call to state their political views. They both say it is
    essential for justices to be viewed as impartial.

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, judicial 
elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19> | Comments Off

    The Backstory on Allegations Against Sen. Menendez
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47379>

Posted on February 16, 2013 3:35 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47379> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/nyregion/partisan-push-led-to-troubling-revelations-about-senator-menendez.html?pagewanted=1&hp> 
NYT report.

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Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, ethics 
investigations <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42> | Comments Off

    "Congress's committee chairman push to reassert their power"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47376>

Posted on February 16, 2013 3:12 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47376> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important, extensive /WaPo/ report: 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congresss-committee-chairman-push-to-reassert-their-power/2013/02/16/2acb7770-6a6a-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_story.html>

    The overarching demand is for "regular order." which is
    congressional speak for how things are supposed to work --- at least
    how things used to work. Their hopes are straight out of the old
    Schoolhouse Rock "I'm Just a Bill" anthem
    <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0>, where bills start in
    subcommittees and move to full committees and competing versions are
    passed by each chamber, leading to a conference committee to iron
    out the differences. A final version gets approved and sent to the
    president for his signature.

    That process, already withering away over the last decade, broke
    down completely in the 112th Congress. Senior aides could not point
    to a single significant bill introduced in the past two years that
    moved along those old procedural tracks. The Senate, intended as the
    more prudent, less fractious house, set a modern record for futility
    in 2011 and 2012 by holding just 486 votes
    <http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_112_1.htm>---
    about 175 fewer roll calls than a normal two-year session.

    Instead of producing legislation the old-fashioned way, Republicans
    and President Obama jousted over a series of deadlines --- expiring
    funding for federal agencies, exhausting Treasury's borrowing
    authority, expiring tax cuts --- that led to a recurring series of
    crises that left Congress deeply unpopular.

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Posted in legislation and legislatures 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, political parties 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political polarization 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68> | Comments Off

    "Data Mining is New Lobbying Gold"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47373>

Posted on February 16, 2013 1:37 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47373> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Byron Tau for Politico 
<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/data-mining-takes-lobbying-to-a-whole-new-place-87717.html>:

    A congressman gets an earful from his neighbor after church about a
    tax bill. A senator suddenly finds old high school classmates
    calling her about an upcoming vote on a small business bill.

    Those meetings may not be coincidences.

    The same social data-mining ability and concept --- that voters are
    more likely to consider new ideas from people they know and trust
    --- that helped power President Barack Obama's unprecedented field
    operation is coming to K Street.

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Posted in legislation and legislatures 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, lobbying 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>, social media and social protests 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58> | Comments Off

-- 
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

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