Lobbying

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“A lifetime ban on lobbying for lawmakers?” by Cristina Marcos in The Hill.

Campaign Finance

“FEC Summarizes Campaign Activity of the First 12 Months of the 2013-2014 Election Cycle” news release on the Federal Election Commission website.

“Reformers: It’ll take scandal to stop PACs” by Joe Battenfeld and Hillary Chabot in the Boston Herald.

Mississippi: “Mississippi Senate: Another race with record money” by The Associated Press on WZVN ABC 7 News.

Ethics

Alabama: “Alabama Ethics Commission director Jim Sumner to retire” by Brian Lyman in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Louisiana: “Senate rejects Jindal ethics board appointee” by The Associated Press on WAFB News.

South Carolina: “SC lawmakers try to find ethics compromise” by Jeffrey Collins (Associated Press) in the Charlotte Observer.

Elections

“Top takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries” by Paul Steinhauser, Ashley Killough and Dana Davidsen on CNN.

Government Tech and Social Media

“How Twitter Could Be Replaced As The Primary Political App” by David Jones in Social News Daily.

Attorney General Gary King received more than 33 percent of the vote in a field of five candidates to win the Democratic nomination for governor. King will face a general election match-up with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Martinez, a former district attorney from Las Cruces, was elected the state’s first female governor and the nation’s first female Hispanic governor in 2010.

King, a former state legislator and son of former Gov. Bruce King, raised about $476,000 for his gubernatorial bid since October. More than half of the contributions were in the form of King’s personal loans to the campaign.

During the same period, Martinez raised more than $2.4 million in campaign contributions.

The U.S. Senate primary between incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party challenger Chris McDaniel remains too close to call after the June 3 election date.

If neither candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be scheduled for June 24.

The race was considered one of the few remaining chances for a tea party victory after a string of primary challenges ended in defeat.

Lobbying

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Big Business’ Summer Agenda | K Street Files” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“States and Localities Are Losing Their Influence in Washington” by J. B. Wogan in Governing.

Campaign Finance

“Campaigns Ignore State Law at Their Peril | A Question of Ethics” by C. Simon Davidson in Roll Call.

California: “L.A. County requires electronic filings of campaign finance reports” by Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times.

Massachusetts: “Campaign finance bill is now law” by Douglas Moser in the Eagle-Tribune.

Wisconsin: “Judge who stopped Wisconsin campaign finance probe tied to Koch-funded junkets” by Chris Young in The Center for Public Integrity.

Ethics

North Carolina: “North Carolina elections board hiring longtime FBI agent to work on investigation team” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

South Carolina: “SC Senate votes against House ethics plan” by The Associated Press in The State.

Elections

“Oldest lawmaker kicked out” by Cameron Joseph in The Hill.

“An Update on the 2014 State Legislators to Watch” by Louis Jacobson in Governing.

“A Guide to the 36 Governors’ Races” by Louis Jacobson in Governing.

Texas: “Tea Party Conservatives Win Top GOP Runoff Contests” by Brandi Grissom in The Texas Tribune.

Veteran state Sen. Don Balfour lost re-election in the primary on Tuesday, May 20, 2014.

Balfour is the longest-serving Senate Republican and was acquitted last year of charges he improperly billed the state for travel expenses.

Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau and former Lawrenceville City Councilman P.K. Martin both finished ahead of Balfour, setting up a runoff between the two candidates on July 22, 2014.

Without a single candidate securing a majority of votes in Tuesday’s election, Trenton voters must head to the polls for a second time to elect a mayor. A runoff election is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10.

Eric Jackson, the former city public works director, is considered the favorite candidate. Coming into the race Jackson took the lead in campaign financing, while challenger Paul Perez focused his energy on running a positive campaign. There will also be a June 10 runoff for council candidates in the East Ward.

Today the Chief Electoral Officer for Ontario, Canada, Greg Essensa, announced the province will hold general elections on June 12, 2014. According to the Elections Ontario’s press release, the candidate nomination period runs from May 15 to May 22. The two blackout periods on political advertising run from May 7 to May 20 and June 10 to Election Day.

The last provincial general election was held on October 6, 2011.

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.

Lobbying

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Ex-lawmaker registers to lobby for Ukrainian businessmen” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Ethics panel won’t move forward on Luis Gutierrez” by John Bresnahan in Politico.

Missouri: “Former governor Matt Blunt now a registered lobbyist” by Kelly Moffitt in the St. Louis Business Journal.

Campaign Finance

California: “Scaled-back campaign finance disclosure bill clears Assembly” by Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times.

New Jersey: “Bill would extend campaign funding” by Maddie Hanna in The Inquirer.

North Carolina: “Big money targets NC elections” by Jon Ostendorff in the Citizen-Times.

Elections

“6 Things to Watch in Tuesday’s Primaries” by Alexis Levinson and Emily Cahn in Roll Call.

“10 Maps That Explain the 2014 Midterms” by Kyle Kondik in Politico Magazine.

“A singer, a speaker: House races to watch” by Alex Isenstadt in Politico.

“The 10 Most Vulnerable Members of 2014” by Shira T. Center, Abby Livingston, and Emily Cahn in Roll Call.

Ethics

“Members of Congress Open Wallets and Pocketbooks” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Government Transparency

New York: “After Pledge of Sunlight, Gov. Cuomo Officials Keep Their Email in the Shadows” by Justin Elliott in ProPublica.

The Dover City Council has set June 17, 2014, as the date of a mayoral special election following the resignation of Mayor Carleton E. Carey, Sr.

Dover’s city charter requires a special election be held no sooner than 30 days and no later than 60 days after the mayor’s office becomes vacant.

Vice Mayor David Bonar will serve as interim mayor until the new leader is chosen. The newly elected mayor will serve the remainder of Carey’s term, which expires on May 11, 2015.

Lobbying

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Lobbyists break away to start new firm” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Camp could punch ‘golden ticket’ to K St.” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

European Union: “Politics for People: Demanding Transparent and Ethical Lobbying in the EU” by Jessica McKenzie in TechPresident.

Campaign Finance

“McCutcheon v. FEC Decision” with Lee Goodman speaking on C-SPAN.

“Outside spending on record-breaking pace” by Domenico Montanaro, Rachel Wellford, and Simone Pathe on PBS NewsHour.

“Study Finds Voluntary Corporate Political Spending Disclosure Lacking” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“McConnell, Priebus differ on cash limits” by Alexander Bolton in The Hill.

“Christie advocates end to limits on campaign donations” by Maddie Hanna in The Inquirer.

“5 first-quarter fundraising takeaways” by Byron Tau and Tarini Parti in Politico.

“Potter to speak on campaign-finance law” in News at Princeton.

Ethics

Washington: “Ethics board hears call to end free meals for lawmakers” by Brad Shannon in The Olympian.

Elections

“2014 midterms: What’s at stake” by Leigh Ann Caldwell on CNN News.

State Legislatures

“Spring Is Convening While Most Legislatures Are Adjourning” by Angela Andrews in The NCSL Blog.

A special election was held in Quebec on April 7, resulting in a new majority government.

Premier Pauline Marois, leader of the Parti Quebecois, called the election hoping her party would garner a majority of seats within the National Assembly. However, the Liberals took 70 of the 125 seats, giving them a majority of seats in the legislature.

Marois lost her own seat in the Charlevoix-Cote-de-Beaupre riding, causing her to step down as the leader of the Parti Quebecois. Liberal Leader Phillipe Couillard will become the new Premier of Quebec.

Lobbying

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

Ottawa, Canada: “City rules allow lobbyists to donate to councillors’ campaigns” by Joanne Chianello in the Ottawa Citizen.

Campaign Finance

“FEC Publishes New Contribution Limits for 2013-2014” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Delaware: “Del. lawmakers eye campaign finance bill” by The Associated Press in The Washington Times.

Maine: “Maine rethinking campaign contribution limits after Supreme Court ruling” by Reid Wilson (Washington Post) in the Bangor Daily News.

New York: “NY ethics board tells 4 advocacy groups it won’t shield names of their financial backers” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Ethics

California: “California lawmakers propose reforms to regain public trust after series of scandals” by Fenit Nirappil (Associated Press) in the Daily Bulletin.

Georgia: “Deal proposes overhaul of Ga. ethics commission” by Phillip Lucas (Associated Press) in The Telegraph.

Georgia: “Another lawsuit from ex-ethics staffer is in the works” by Greg Bluestein in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Pennsylvania: “Pa. Senate committee approves ban on cash gifts” by Amy Worden in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

From the State Legislatures

California: “State lawmakers’ per diem claims topped $1.1M in 2013” by Nick Heynen and Matthew Defour in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Elections

“Report finds states cutting wait times for voters” by Martha T. Moore in USA Today.

Lobbying

“Former White House lawyer defends Obama limits on lobbying, hints at possible changes” by Holly Yeager in The Washington Post.

“Obama alumni join ranks of ‘unlobbyists’” by Mike Dorning in the Concord Monitor.

“Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Hires Blanche Lincoln” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“House Ethics Reviewing Gutierrez Contract With Illinois Lobbyist” by Emma Dumain in Roll Call.

“Putin’s lobbyists escape sanctions” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Connecticut: “Lobbyists command millions from Conn. Industries” by Neil Vigdor in the Stamford Advocate.

Missouri: “Our million-dollar Legislature” opinion piece by State Rep. John Wright in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Campaign Finance

“Forget the Dictionary, Super PACs Aren’t New” by Francis Barry in Bloomberg View.

Louisiana: “Feds asked to look into super PAC backing Vitter” in The Advocate.

New York: “Campaign finance reform benefits women” opinion piece by Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Letitia James in The Journal News.

New York: “Business interests against NY public campaign financing want to preserve their influence (Commentary)” by Lawrence Norden in The Post-Standard.

Ethics

Kentucky: “Former state official assessed ethics fine” by The Associated Press in the Bangor Daily News.

New Jersey: “Christie’s campaign treasurer goes to bat for underfunded agency: The Auditor” in The Star Ledger.

Pennsylvania: “Gift ban urged after report of Pa. lawmakers getting cash” by Mark Scolforo (Associated Press) in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

State Legislative Sessions

Idaho: “Idaho Legislature wraps up with pay raises at the top” by Betsy Z. Russell in The Spokesman-Review.

Virginia: “McAuliffe proposes expanding Medicaid in two-year pilot” by Olympia Meola and Jim Nolan in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Elections

Rhode Island: “House speaker candidates courting votes” by Randal Edgar in the Providence Journal.

Redistricting

Pennsylvania: “Legislators clash over district boundary changes” by Robert Swift in The Times-Tribune.