Rep. Charlie Rangel has likely defeated challenger state Sen. Adriano Espaillat in a hotly contested Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District. The district covers parts of New York City, including Harlem and the Bronx.

While some news sources report the race is too close to call, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Rangel leads by 1,828 votes. Espaillat has not yet conceded the race because absentee and provisional ballots still remain uncounted. There are 980 valid absentee ballots and an unknown number of provisional ballots, all of which will be counted on July 2, 2014.

There is no Republican challenger for the 13th District seat so a win in the primary guarantees the victor a seat in Congress.

Rangel has served 22 terms in Congress and was once the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The veteran congressman has defeated Espaillat once before in the 2012 Democratic primary, winning by less than 1,000 votes.

Here is our July – August calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

June 25, 2014  WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

July 10-13, 2014   National Governors Association Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee

July 13-16, 2014   CSG Midwestern Legislative Conference, Omaha, Nebraska

July 14, 2014   WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

July 23, 2014   IACREOT Conference, Bonita Springs, Florida

July 23-25, 2014   NCSL Legislative Leadership, Washington, D.C.

July 28, 2014   WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

August 3-6, 2014   CSG/Eastern Regional Conference Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland

August 9-13, 2014 CSG National & CSG West Annual Conference, Anchorage, Alaska

August 19-22, 2014   NCSL Legislative Summit, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lobbying

“Which federal agencies do lobbyists target most?” by Elizabeth Shell in PBS Newshour.

“Unemployment Extension Cause Has Invisible Lobby | K Street Files” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Former Rep. Dan Lungren returns to lobbying” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

Canada: “Number of federal lobbyists up 24 per cent” by Jason Fekete in The Star Phoenix.

Florida: “Lobbyists, lawyers jostle for pot business” by Dara Kam in The News Herald.

Kentucky: “Lobbyist hosts RPK fundraiser with top GOP senators” by Tom Loftus in the Courier-Journal.

Oklahoma: “Wind energy felt at the state Capitol” by Kurtis Killman in the Tulsa World.

Pennsylvania: “Improvements seen in Phila. lobbying Web site” by Alisha Green (Sunlight Foundation) in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Campaign Finance

“What if your cell phone buzzed every time someone gave your congressman a ton of money?” by Emily Badger in The Washington Post.

“What America Can Learn From Norway’s Success in Regulating Campaign Finance” by Emmett Rensin in PolicyMic.

Ethics

Georgia: “Georgia settles with 3 former ethics commission employees for more than $1.8 million” by Christina A. Cassidy (Associated Press) in The Republic.

Ohio: “Lawmaker might face charges over gifts” by Randy Ludlow in The Columbus Dispatch.

Rhode Island: “Issues to watch at end of General Assembly session” by Erika Niedowski (Associated Press) in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rhode Island: “R.I. Senate OKs bill for Ethics Commission jurisdiction over state lawmakers” by Mike McKinney in the Providence Journal.

West Virginia: “Ethics Commission to hire interim director” by Phil Kabler in The Charleston Gazette.

Congress

“What Happens in the Senate When No One’s Looking? A Lot” by Humberto Sanchez in Roll Call.

State Legislatures

California: “California Legislature passes $156.4-billion 2014-15 budget” by Chris Megerian and Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times.

Minnesota: “Minnesota legislators swap Capitol careers for lucrative county paychecks” by Patrick Condon in the Star Tribune.

New York: “Albany lawmakers leaving unfinished business” by Michael Randall in Times Herald-Record.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Pols have a #fakefollower problem” by Darren Samuelsohn in Politico.

Lobbying

“Caterpillar hires Ray LaHood as a consultant” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

Campaign Finance

“Stephen Colbert exults in Colbert-crowning study” by Erik Wemple in The Washington Post.

California: “The Election’s Over, Where Does The Money Go?” by Grant Scott-Goforth in The North Coast Journal.

Missouri: “Kansas City Council panel supports campaign contribution limits” by Lynn Horsley in The Kansas City Star.

Ohio: “Daughter testifies against Benjamin Suarez in campaign finance scheme trial” by Ed Meyer in the Akron Beacon Journal.

Texas: “Texas Ethics Commission fines state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown $5,000 for obscuring campaign loans” by Gromer Jeffersd, Jr. in The Dallas Morning News.

Ethics

South Carolina: “SC lawmakers agree on ethics reform but ‘most important part … not getting done’” by Jamie Self in The State.

West Virginia: “West Virginia Ethics Commission fires executive director, gives no reason for her termination” by Jonathan Mattise (Associated Press) in The Republic.

Elections

Alabama: “Alabama voter turnout lower than 2010” by The Associated Press in the Montgomery Advertiser.

California: “Top-two primary imperils some legislative comebacks as Democrats seek to hold supermajorities” by Don Thompson (Associated Press) in the Daily Journal.

Missouri: “Missouri moving presidential primary to March” by David E. Lieb (Associated Press) in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Virginia: “Glance of candidates in Va. congressional race” by The Associated Press in the Miami Herald.

Redistricting

Florida: “Redistricting trial wraps up with no decision for weeks” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Lobbying

“Patton Boggs, Squire Sanders to merge” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Bitcoin gets a lobbyist” by Julian Hattem in The Hill.

Illinois: “Retired congressman cashes in as transit lobbyist, consultant” by Chuck Neubauer and Sandy Bergo in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Campaign Finance

“GOP Sues to End Fundraising Limits on Political Parties” by Brody Mullins in The Wall Street Journal.

“Shrinking Line Separates Campaign Donations From Bribes” by Albert R. Hunt in Bloomberg.

Arkansas: “Arkansas Ethics Panel Issues Opinion On Electronic Campaign Contributions” in the Times Record.

New Jersey: “Special interest money in Newark election fuels debate over campaign finance reform” by Ted Sherman in The Star-Ledger.

New York: “NY won’t enforce $150G contribution limit on individual donors” by Michael Gormley in Newsday.

New York: “Poll finds New Yorkers support campaign finance” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.

Virginia: “McAuliffe vetoes bill that would ban donations from companies seeking economic grants” by Jenna Portnoy in The Washington Post.

Wisconsin: “Will Wisconsin follow FEC’s lead on bitcoin approval?” by Steven Elbow in The Capital Times.

Ethics

New York: “NY lawmaker’s campaign manager quits” by Cameron Joseph in The Hill.

Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania has one of nation’s most lax ethics laws for politicians” by Karen Shuey in Lancaster Online.

Rhode Island: “Candidates for governor discuss R.I.’s reputation for secrecy, cronyism / Video” by C. Eugene Emery, Jr. in the Providence Journal.

South Carolina: “SC ethics reform likely will not include independent oversight of legislators” by Andrew Shain in The State.

The day before scheduled adjournment, New Brunswick’s Legislative Assembly approved the Lobbyists’ Registration Act, establishing a lobbyist registry for the province.

The Act establishes a registrar of lobbyists and outlines requirements for registration by consultant and in-house lobbyists.

The province attempted to create a registry a number of times over the last several years, but failed because of financial concerns and technical complications.

Lobbying

“Telecom merger mania hits K Street” by Anna Palmer in Politico.

Illinois: “Quinn wants limits on lobbying by former aides” by Kurt Erickson in the Pantagraph.

Kentucky: “More than $8.25 mil spent lobbying in Frankfort” by Tim Loftus in The Courier-Journal.

Wisconsin: “State panel to decide rules for some lobbyist donations” by Patrick Marley in the Journal Sentinel.

Campaign Finance

“Campaign Bitcoins Proliferate, but FEC Rules Unclear” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“The new campaign contribution: I’ll get my employees to vote for you” by Philip Bump in The Washington Post.

California: “California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom Among First Politicians Opening Coffers to Bitcoin” by Joe Garolfoli in Government Technology.

Oklahoma: “Electoral dysfunction” by Ben Felder in the Oklahoma Gazette.

Ethics

Virginia: “Bob McDonnell, wife to be tried together” by The Associated Press in Politico.

Elections

“Payback time: GOP incumbents learn how to win” by Alexander Burns in Politico.

“GOP Sees Primaries Taming the Tea Party” by Janet Hook and Patrick O’Connor in The Wall Street Journal.

Arkansas: “Ross, Hutchinson win primaries” by Andrew DeMillo (Associated Press) in The Baxter Bulletin.

Georgia: “Georgia Senate runoff: Nasty, brutish — and long” by Manu Raju in Politico.

Idaho: “Idaho Gov. Otter holding off challengers” by Betsy Z. Russell in The Spokesman-Review.

Pennsylvania: “Wolf leaves the pack behind” by Chris Brennan in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Pennsylvania: “Philly Politicians Must Keep Resigning to Run for Office” by Claudia Vargas in Governing.

State Legislatures

Connecticut: “The Chocolate Milk Ban And Other Legislative Goofs” by Gregory B. Hladky in The Courant.

A provision in Minnesota’s campaign finance law known as the “special sources limit” will no longer be enforced as applied to individual large donors. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law with respect to individual large donors in response to a challenge by the Institute for Justice on First Amendment grounds.

Under section 10A.27(11) of the Minnesota Statutes, the special sources limit prohibits a campaign from raising more than 20 percent of its total contributions from lobbyists, political committees, and large donors contributing more than one half of the individual contribution limit.

Donovan issued the injunction in light of the precedent set by McCutcheon v. FEC.

The defendants have the opportunity to appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If they choose not to appeal, the case will proceed to a final ruling at the district court level later this year.

The Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, May 16, 2014.

The Legislature passed a $1 billion public works construction package in addition to voting to legalize medical marijuana in a session described by some as one of the most productive sessions in years.

Attorney General William Sorrell issued a formal opinion confirming the state’s current contribution limits will remain in effect through the 2014 elections. Early in the legislative session, Vermont enacted Senate Bill 82, repealing the existing campaign finance law upon passage and establishing new contribution limits to take effect January 1, 2015.

The bill contained a drafting error, however, repealing the existing limits without anything in their place before the new limits take effect in 2015. The House attempted to correct the error through an additional bill, but it was never acted upon by the Senate Finance Committee.

While the Elections Division issued a statement confirming the old limits still applied, Secretary of State Jim Condos requested a formal opinion from the state’s attorney general since his office lacked statutory authority to enforce the old limits.

Relying on legislative deliberations on Senate Bill 82, Sorrell ruled the Legislature did not intend to repeal existing limits for the 2014 election cycle, and the existing limits at the time of the bill’s passage will be enforced until the new limits take effect next year.

Lobbying

“Lobbying on data, cybersecurity has tripled” by Catherine Ho in The Washington Post.

“Bitcoin community upset over political lobbying in Washington” by Andrew Moran in Personal Finance.

Massachusetts: “For Massachusetts lawmakers, steady lobbying money” by The Associated Press in the Boston Herald.

Massachusetts: “DeLeo: Lobbyist donations have no effect on votes” by The Associated Press in the Connecticut Post.

New York: “Lobbying loophole obscures local casino spending” by Laura Nahmias in Capital New York.

Campaign Finance

“‘Fixing’ campaign finance is only making it worse” by Seth Masket in The Washington Post.

Mississippi: “Bank Gives $230K Unsecured Loan to Super PAC” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

New Hampshire: “Changes to campaign finance laws could have big effect in N.H. races” by Kathleen Ronayne in the Concord Monitor.

New York: “NYS Public campaign finance showing signs of life” by Karen DeWitt on North Country Public Radio.

Washington: “Initiative targets big money in politics” by Jim Brunner in The Seattle Times.

Ethics

Florida: “Conference offers crash course on Florida politics” by Anthony Man in the Sun Sentinel.

Lobbying

“Lobbying 101: K Street goes back to school” by Byron Tau in Politico.

“Patton Boggs settles with Chevron” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Under Contract” in The Hill.

Colorado: “House passes measure to increase lobbyist transparency” by Blair Shiff on KUSA TV News.

EU: “30,000 lobbyists and counting: is Brussels under corporate sway?” by Ian Traynor in The Guardian.

Florida: “Miami-Dade lobbyist in middle of FBI sting against mayors pleads guilty” by Jay Weaver in the Miami Herald.

Campaign Finance

“Top Corporate PACs Give Over $2 Million in Contributions” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“Answers for Our ‘Byzantine’ Campaign Finance System | Commentary” by Lisa Gilbert in Roll Call.

New York: “Cuomo, lawmakers push campaign finance reform” by Josefa Velasquez (Associated Press) on WIVB News.

Wisconsin: “Wisconsin campaign finance probe can continue: appeals court” by Brenda O’Brien in Reuters.

Wisconsin: “Conflicting Rulings Cloud Wisconsin Campaign Finance Inquiry” by Monica Davey in The New York Times.

Wisconsin: “Political Speech Wins in Wisconsin” opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.

Wyoming: “Groups seek to overturn Wyo. campaign finance law” by Trevor Brown in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Ethics

Vermont: “Vermont House to form ethics panel, require employment disclosure” by Anne Galloway in the Brattleboro Reformer.

A number of rock, pop, and country music stars have run for political office in the U.S. over the years. Here is a list of who they are, what office they ran for, and whether or not they won.

Sonny Bono – Mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 to 1992. Then won a seat in the federal House of Representatives in 1994. He served until his tragic death in a skiing accident in 1998.

John Hall – John Hall of Orleans, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006 and served New York’s 19th Congressional District until 2011.

Martha Reeves – Between 2005 and 2009 Reeves served on the Detroit City Council.

Krist Novoselic – The Nirvana bassist nearly ran for lieutenant governor of Washington in 2004, but ultimately backed out. In 2009 he ran for Wahkiakum County Clerk as a member of the fictional Grange Party. It was a protest run designed to show how ludicrous the state’s election laws were, and he dropped out before the election.

Jello Biafra – The Dead Kennedys lead singer ran for mayor of San Francisco in 1979; he came in fourth out of 10 candidates. In 2000 he tried to run for President with the Green party, but Ralph Nader won the nomination.

Justin Jeffre – Justin Jeffre of 98 Degrees ran for mayor of Cincinnati in 2005. He only got 708 votes in the primary.

Luther Campbell – In 2011, 2 Live Crew front man Luther Campbell ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County. He didn’t win, but he did get 11 percent of the vote.

Clay Aiken – American Idol’s Clay Aiken is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 2^nd Congressional District.

Todd Phelps – Country musician is currently running for mayor of Austin Texas.

Joe Walsh – Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh has often joked about running for office, announcing a tongue-in-cheek presidential campaign in 1980 and throwing his name in the hat for vice president in 1992.

Sammy Kershaw – In 2010 Kershaw was a candidate for lieutenant governor in the state of Louisiana. It was the second time he had run for the position in his home state. He did it first in 2007, collecting 30 percent of the vote.

Kinky Friedman – In 1986, Friedman ran for Justice of the Peace in Kerrville, Texas, as a Republican but lost the election. In 2004, Friedman began a campaign to become the governor of Texas in 2006. In 2013, he announced his intention to again run for Texas agriculture commissioner as a Democrat, the same position he ran for in 2010 when he lost the Democratic primary.

Thanks to Rolling Stone and Wikipedia among several other news and fan sites for assistance with this list.

The photo of Joe Walsh is courtesy of Steve Alexander on Wikimedia Commons.

Here is our May – June calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

April 30-May 2, 2014  OSBA Annual Convention, Columbus, Ohio

May 8, 2014   WGR Spring Reception, Washington, D.C.

May 16, 2014   University of Akron Law Alumni Reunion, Akron, Ohio

May 20, 2014   WGR PACS, Politics, and Grassroots Conference, Washington, D.C.

May 27, 2014   National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

May 29-31, 2014   NCSL Executive Committee Meeting, Anchorage, Alaska

June 22-26, 2014   BIO International Convention, San Diego, California