[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/1/20

Sat Feb 1 10:30:54 PST 2020

“Bloomberg Fueled His Campaign With $200 Million From His Own Fortune”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109258>
Posted on February 1, 2020 10:26 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109258> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-spending.html>

Michael R. Bloomberg<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/michael-bloomberg.html> put more than $200 million of his personal fortune into his presidential campaign by the end of December, with the overwhelming bulk of that sum going to a mammoth advertising campaign on television and online, according to Mr. Bloomberg’s first campaign finance disclosure with the Federal Election Commission.

But Mr. Bloomberg’s wealth financed a huge array of campaign expenditures, many of them unusual or unheard-of for candidates of normal means, including millions of dollars in polling before Mr. Bloomberg even entered the race; $1.5 million for office space; about $700,000 for rental apartments for campaign staff; and nearly as much on travel by private jet.

The figure comes as little surprise to those who have tracked Mr. Bloomberg’s television advertising, and the total price tag for his candidacy has soared far higher in the month since the end of the reporting period. But the filing on Friday is the most detailed description yet of how Mr. Bloomberg has deployed his personal fortune in a quest for the presidency that only started in late November.

Since then, Mr. Bloomberg has climbed into the high single digits in national polls, largely on the strength of an onslaught of campaign commercials with no precedent in Democratic politics.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, Plutocrats United<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>

“How Will the Winner of the Iowa Caucuses Be Chosen? Here’s What You Should Know”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109256>
Posted on February 1, 2020 10:16 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109256> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports.<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/us/politics/iowa-caucus-delegates-winner.html>
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109256&title=%E2%80%9CHow%20Will%20the%20Winner%20of%20the%20Iowa%20Caucuses%20Be%20Chosen%3F%20Here%E2%80%99s%20What%20You%20Should%20Know%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Using only ‘a phone book,’ can you commit voter fraud in NC?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109254>
Posted on February 1, 2020 10:11 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109254> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politifact<https://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/article/2020/jan/31/using-only-phone-book-can-you-commit-voter-fraud-n/> on the dubious claim of a North Carolina gubernatorial candidate.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

At Least for the Moment, Amazon Has the Kindle Version of Election Meltdown on Sale for $15.12 (rather than $27.50) for Immediate Download<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109251>
Posted on February 1, 2020 10:03 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109251> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Don’t know how long this<https://www.amazon.com/Election-Meltdown-Distrust-American-Democracy-ebook/dp/B0849NPC95/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1565015345&sr=1-1-catcorr> will last.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

“Winnowing and Endorsing: Separating the Two Distinct Functions of Party Primaries”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109249>
Posted on February 1, 2020 10:00 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109249> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ned Foley has posted this timely draft<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3529904> on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This chapter of an edited volume on presidential primaries focuses on the relationship of the primaries to the general election. It does not suffice that the rules are sound for each stage of the overall electoral system considered separately. Instead, the relationship of the two stages must also be sound for the overall system to be coherent. The chapter analyzes this relationship by examining the possibility of a “bolt” from a brokered convention, as occurred in 1912 when ex-president Theodore Roosevelt launched his separate Progressive Party (“Bull Moose”) candidacy after losing his bid for the GOP nomination. The chapter considers the hypothetical possibility that something similar might occur in the context of the 2020 Democratic Party primary, where deep ideological divisions between two wings of the party have become evident. If Democrats are internally torn between progressives and moderates, what is the relationship between this internal party split and the general presidential election that inevitably must follow? The chapter considers whether the use of Ranked Choice Voting in the general election and eliminating so-called “sore loser” laws, to permit the losing candidate of a divisive primary election to run in the general election as an independent candidate, would provide a more coherent relationship between the two stages of the overall process than what currently exists.
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Posted in political parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

Democrats Eliminate Small-Donor Requirement for Nevada Debate<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109243>
Posted on January 31, 2020 2:09 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109243> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

This change<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/us/politics/dnc-democratic-debate-rules.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage> is almost certainly in response to the fact that Michael Bloomberg now appears to be fourth<https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html> in the national polls, even though he is not soliciting contributions from anyone. As the DNC has recognized, keeping a candidate with that level of voter support off the debate stage, simply because his support is not expressed in one particular form — the number of small donors — would not have made a whole lot of sense. Democratic primary voters will now get a chance to see him on the same stage with others polling at the top and make their own decisions.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“What Happens If Iowa And Nevada Caucuses Are Disrupted?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109240>
Posted on January 31, 2020 10:12 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109240> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Steven Rosenfeld reports<https://www.nationalmemo.com/what-happens-if-iowa-and-nevada-caucuses-are-disrupted/?cn-reloaded=1>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

--
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
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>

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