Campaign Finance

National: “How a Little-Known Democratic Firm Cashed in On the Wave of Midterm Money” by Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Anu Narayanswamy for Washington Post

Connecticut: “Under the Influence: Marijuana industry seeks ruling on legality of political contributions in Connecticut” by Neil Vigdor for Hartford Courant

Montana: “Montana’s Dark Money Detective” by Jimmy Tobias for Pacific Standard

Elections

California: “Supreme Court Rules Against Mystery Corporation from ‘Country A’ Fighting Subpoena in Mueller Investigation” by Robert Barnes, Devlin Barrett, and Carol Leonnig (Washington Post) for San Jose Mercury News

Ethics

National: “Feds’ GoFundMe Campaigns Open a ‘Minefield’ of Ethical Questions During Shutdown” by Nicole Ogrysko for Federal News Network

National: “Pro-Pruitt Group Took Big Checks in Secret” by Alex Guillen for Politico

Georgia: “State Ethics Director Under Ethics Investigation” by Dale Russell for WAGA

Hawaii: “Why Critics Say New House Sexual Harassment Policy Doesn’t Go Far Enough” by Anita Hofschneider for Honolulu Civil Beat

New York: “As Session Starts, Legislators and Advocates Push Overhaul of State Ethics Enforcement” by Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette

Legislative Issues

National: “Young People Power into Statehouses and City Halls” by Graham Vyse for Governing

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack announced a special election to fill the vacancy in the 37th Senate District.

The seat became open with the election of Guy Reschenthaler to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The district includes suburbs in western and southern Allegheny County as well as part of Washington County.

On November 28, 2018, a lawsuit had been filed against the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to stop the commission’s Comprehensive Lobbying Regulations from going into effect on January 1, 2019.

David Grandeau, a former lobbying enforcement official and one of three petitioners in the lawsuit, argued the commission lacks the authority to create regulations that expand and amend New York’s Lobbying Act.

On December 19, a settlement was reached between the two parties. As a result, the comprehensive regulations are defined as a “statement’’ for how the commission plans to administer and enforce state lobbying law.

On October 15, 2018, the Baltimore City Council passed an ethics bill introduced by City Councilman Zeke Cohen.

Ordinance No. 18-0230, also known as the Transparency in Lobbying Act, became law without the mayor’s signature on December 3, 2018.

The ordinance requires lobbyists to file reports twice a year and affirmatively identify their clients when approaching city government officials. Additionally, any lobbyist violating the act may be banned for a period of three years.

An amendment was adopted delaying the effective date of the reporting provisions. As a result, lobbyists will file the annual report due January 31, 2019.

Following the 2019 annual report, lobbyists will likely report semi-annually beginning with a report due on July 31, 2019.

The bill will be effective March 3, 2019, while the section impacting reporting requirements will be effective March 3, 2019, or 30 days from a viable online reporting system being implemented, whichever is later.

A lawsuit has been filed against the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to stop the commission’s Comprehensive Lobbying Regulations from going into effect on January 1, 2019.

David Grandeau, a former lobbying enforcement official and one of three petitioners in the lawsuit, argue the commission lacks the authority to create regulations that expand and amend New York’s Lobbying Act.

The lawsuit, York Group Associates LLC v. Joint Commission on Public Ethics was filed in state Supreme Court in Albany on November 28, 2018.

The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics has launched a new lobbyist reporting system. The Organization Profile section has gone live.

All Organization Profiles from the previous system have been transferred to the new lobbying application and require an update to ensure all the information is correct.

The Commission has created an informational page to help users navigate the new system.

Campaign Finance

National: “These Democrats Swore Off PACs. But Corporate Lobbyists Have a Plan” by Kate Ackley for Roll Call

National: “GOP Megadonor Miriam Adelson Is Winning a Medal. But Are Republicans Losing the Political Money War?” by Carrie Levine and Dave Levinthal for Center for Public Integrity

Michigan:”Republican Bill Would Shield Donors to ‘Dark Money’ Groups in Michigan” by Riley Biggins for Bridge Michigan

Elections

National: “Julian Assange Is Secretly Charged in U.S., Prosecutors Mistakenly Reveal” by Charlie Savage, Adam Goldman, and Michael Schmidt (New York Times) for WRAL

California: “San Diego Loosening Rules for Phone Polls and Phone Ads to Avoid Skewed Results” by David Garrick for San Diego Union Tribune

Georgia: “Stacey Abrams Ends Fight for Georgia Governor” by Alan Blinder and Richard Fausset (New York Times) for WRAL

Ethics

National: “Judge Hands CNN Victory in Its Bid to Restore Jim Acosta’s White House Press Pass” by Paul Farhi (Washington Post) for MSN

Lobbying

Oklahoma: “Lobbyists Await Largest Number of Freshmen Lawmakers Since Statehood” by Janelle Stecklein for McAlester News Capital

Redistricting

Maryland: “Maryland Appeals Partisan Gerrymandering Decision to Supreme Court” by Ann Marimow and Erin Cox for Washington Post

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Arizona Utility Regulators Ask Judge to Bar Colleague’s Investigation of Them” by Howard Fischer (Capitol Media Services) for Arizona Daily Star

Michigan: “Bill Could Provide a Potential $92K Windfall for 2 Michigan Senators” by Paul Egan for Detroit Free Press

New York: “Sugarman Election Complaint Seeks $700K in NYSUT Penalties” by Chris Bragg for Albany Times Union

Elections

Florida: “Inside the Republican Strategy to Discredit the Florida Recount” by Jeremy Peters and Maggie Haberman for MSN

Ethics

Federal: “Justice Dept. Defends Legality of Trump’s Appointment of Acting Attorney General” by Charlie Savage for New York Times

Lobbying

Federal: “A Fugitive Financier’s Charm Offensive Has P.R. Firms Proceeding with Caution” by Matthew Goldstein and Kenneth Vogel for New York Times

Canada: “Sask. eHealth Exec Got Free PGA Golf Trip from Vendor Doing Business with Province” by Geoff Leo for CBC

California: “SoccerCity Document Leak by San Diego Councilman Prompts Tougher Restrictions” by David Garrick for San Diego Union Tribune

Redistricting

Virginia: “U.S. Supreme Court to Take Up Virginia Redistricting Case on Racial Gerrymandering” by Gregory Schneider and Robert Barnes for Washington Post

Maine has elected state Attorney General Janet Mills as governor, making her the first woman to hold the state’s highest office. Mills is taking over for Republican Paul LePage, who is known for being combative.

In addition to making racist remarks, he led efforts to block Medicaid expansion in Maine, even after voters approved the move in a ballot initiative. In fact, LaPage sued Mills after she refused to represent him in several federal cases.

Mills, who was the first woman elected as a district attorney in New England, was also the first female attorney general of Maine.

Her main priorities for the state include increasing access to Medicaid by funding the efforts with the $35 million she secured from a tobacco settlement, providing broadband access in rural areas and addressing the opioid crisis.

Billionaire Democrat J.B. Pritzker defeated first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, by a margin of 54 percent to 39.3 percent. Less than an hour after polls closed, Rauner conceded his re-election bid, giving Democrats near total control of Illinois’ state government.

“Voting is an act of optimism that the levers of our Democracy still work,” Pritzker told supporters moments after declaring victory. “You embody that optimism. You light the beacon fire on the hill of history that signals from one generation to another that these are the things that we stand and fight for.”

In addressing the exuberant crowd, he reminded them that the first McDonald’s opened here and the ice cream sundae was born here, as well.

“We taught the nation how to debate, how to shuffle to the Super Bowl and how to eat a pizza,” he said.

According to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, “Pritzker did something different in this campaign,” Durbin said. “Here was a Chicagoan, clearly a Chicagoan, who wasted no time getting Downstate. I looked around and thought, ‘This is what I’ve been looking for — a governor who starts off by unifying the whole state.’”

In his concession speech, Rauner stated, “This is a time for us to come together.  This is a time for us to unite. To Mr. Pritzker, I said, Godspeed.  I hope and pray you serve Illinois well.”

Longtime Republican lawmaker and Idaho Lieutenant Governor Brad Little has defeated Democratic challenger Paulette Jordan by a margin of 59.5 percent to 38.4 percent to become Idaho’s next governor.

Jordan, a former state lawmaker and member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, was the first woman to earn her party’s nomination in Idaho. Even though there was significant national media attention given to Jordan, Little’s win was predictable in this intensely conservative state.

Little has been lieutenant governor since 2009 and ran on a platform to carry on retiring Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s policies that lead to the state’s recent growth.

“Twenty-four years ago Phil Batt broke a 24-year cycle of Democrats having control of the governor’s office,” Little said during his victory speech Tuesday night before a packed room of cheering supporters.

“This is the 24th anniversary of that and Idaho is still a very red state. I look forward to working with President Trump as we continue to allow Idahoans to be the masters of their own destiny,” he said.

“Idaho has been fairly successful, but we have more work to do in taking back the authority that the federal government over the years has taken, whether it is in the areas of education, transportation, health care, public lands management and all of the areas of regulation.”

The battle to be Georgia’s next governor continues as Democrat Stacey Abrams refuses to concede to Republican Brian Kemp. Kemp holds a small margin of less than 70,000 votes with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Democrats believe there are enough votes submitted by mail still left uncounted to close the gap.

Abrams, a former state legislator, is the first female African-American to be a major party’s nominee for governor. Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Secretary of State, is attempting to break a 20-year slump for Republicans running for governor.

The race took an ugly turn this past weekend as Kemp’s office opened an investigation into the state’s Democratic Party for an alleged attempt to hack the state’s voter registration system. No evidence was cited and the Democrats denied the allegations.

State Republicans are celebrating a victory today following a successful gubernatorial election.

Mike Dunleavy, a former state senator from Wasilla, was elected governor, defeating Democratic candidate Mark Begich and current governor Bill Walker, whose name remained on the ballot despite a late withdrawal from the race.

With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Dunleavy triumphed over opponent Begich with about 52 percent of the vote.

After four years of having an Independent in office, this is a win for the Alaska Republican Party. The last Republican governor of Alaska was Sean Parnell, who was elected in 2010.

On Wednesday, October 31, State and Federal Communications is hosting its Ninth Annual Halloween Donuts and Cider Sale. All sales will go directly to the United Way of Summit County.

Drop in and say hello from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. and enjoy a delicious treat, or take some of these goodies to your office! We’ll be in the lobby of 80 South Summit St. in Downtown Akron, across from Quaker Square.

The Krispy Kreme regular and chocolate donuts are $1.00 per donut or $7.00 per dozen. The apple cider will be $1.00 per cup or $8.00 per gallon.

To reserve your donuts, you can email Joe May at jmay@stateandfed.com, or call us at 330-761-9960.