After a prolonged standoff with the state’s Democratic governor, President Donald Trump says Republicans will seek another state instead of North Carolina to hold its August convention.

Gov. Roy Cooper rejected a proposal for a full convention and insisted on scaling back the event due to uncertainty as to what the status of the COVID-19 pandemic will be in August.

Several other locations are expected to or have already expressed interest in hosting the event, but the GOP is still weighing its options for the event.

Lobbying

“For Special Interests, the Real Party Is Outside the Convention” by Carrie Levine and Dave Levinthal for Center for Public Integrity

California: “California Wants People to Prove They Are Not Lobbyists” by Alison Noon for KPCC

Connecticut: “CT GOP Delegates, This Meal Is Brought to You by …” by Mark Pazniokas for CT Mirror

Campaign Finance

Texas: “City Wins Lawsuit Despite Appearance of Loss” by Jo Clifton for Austin Monitor

Ethics

Connecticut: “Wade Fires Back at Critics” by Christine Stuart for CTNewsJunkie.com

Hawaii: “School Cleared in Ethics Case” by Nathan Eagle for Honolulu Civil Beat

Maryland: “Del. Dan Morhaim, Advocate of Medical Marijuana, Draws Scrutiny for Role in Firm” by Pamela Wood and Erin Cox for Baltimore Sun

Pennsylvania: “Feds Charge Ex-Pa. Treasurer Hafer with Lying and Millionaire Donor with Fraud in Pay-to-Play Probe” by Mark Fazlollah, Craig McCoy, and Dylan Purcell for Philadelphia Inquirer

South Carolina: “Ethics Commission Narrows Governor’s Allowed Use of USC Football Tickets” by Maya Prabhu for Charleston Post & Courier

South Carolina: “Ethics Board Tells Candidates When It’s OK to Pay Family with Donations” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) for Aiken Standard

Elections

“Hillary Clinton Selects Tim Kaine, a Popular Senator from a Swing State, as Running Mate” by Amy Chozick, Alan Rappeport, and Jonathan Martin for New York Times

“DNC Chairwoman Will Resign in Aftermath of Committee Email Controversy” by Anne Gearan, Philip Rucker, and Abby Phillip for Washington Post

Texas: “Appeals Court Says Texas Voter-ID Law Discriminates Against Minorities” by Robert Barnes for Washington Post

Wisconsin: “Judge Issues Injunction, Allows Voters without IDs to Cast Ballots” by Patrick Marley and Jason Stein for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

I was honored to be asked to speak at the Republican National Convention (RNC) as part of a panel on the Republican Leadership Initiative (RLI), which is the party’s 2016 program for grassroots campaigning and volunteer recruitment. I was asked to be on the panel because I am an RLI Fellow and also because of my past political activities, including interning for Senator Voinovich in Washington D.C., volunteering at the 2008 RNC, interning on Rob Portman’s 2010 Senate campaign, working as a field director for Romney for President in Florida, and working for multiple small, political businesses. Since the convention did not convene until the evening, there were breakout sessions and events scheduled during the day for delegates and guests to attend.

This official RNC event was held July 19 and took place at the brand new Hilton on Lakeside Drive. The program started with an in-depth look at the RLI. So far the program has over 20,000 applicants and is still accepting more participants. Then there was a question and answer period, and because of my previous experience, I was able to discuss how the RLI has improved Republican campaigning. In previous election cycles, staffers and volunteers were focused on two activities: phone calls and door-to-door.

This year, the RLI is teaching leadership skills, the latest campaign technology, the importance of voter registration, and how to build a volunteer network. By preparing staffers and volunteers, it creates a larger support system and it’s easier to become involved. Unfortunately, I cannot be as involved this election as I have in previous years, but the RLI allows me to stay invested and contribute as much as I can.

I’m thankful State and Federal Communications provided me with the ability to take the day for this wonderful experience. Overall, it was a great event, and it’s a day I will always remember.

As the United States continues to follow the 2012 presidential candidates down the campaign trail, social media is playing an ever growing role in both campaigns.

During the 2008 election, the use of social media by President Obama was considered innovative and a significant contributing factor to his success. While he is still hard at work to keep his title as the most social media savvy politician (even having a 50-state Twitter campaign), Republicans are catching up.

There now seems to be an ever-present competition going on between Republicans and Democrats, each trying to get the most traffic and largest response to their continuously updated social media platforms.

Although, the Democratic National Convention is still going on, it is already very apparent that this competition has extended with full force to both parties’ respective national conventions.

According to this article provided on Mashable, social media was dominated by GOP related traffic during their convention. There were over 4 million tweets and over 2.5 million YouTube views, as well as 300,000 streaming video hours.

Not to be outdone, an app created by ABC will provide a continuous news flow this week of the Democratic National Convention, including three live streams for mobile and desktop.

An interesting consequential outcome to the rising importance of social media in political campaigns is the rising competition among social media platforms to be the most innovative and utilized source.

It will be interesting to see which party comes out as the social media winner after all the statistics are tallied up for the DNC.

If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, be sure to listen to WAMU 88.5 American University Radio for your direct line to the National Conventions. Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, said,”We are very excited to be a part of this crucial service!”

WKSU reporter M.L. Schultze will be covering the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida starting on August 27. Reporter Mark Urycki will be covering the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina starting on September 3.

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, has been a long supporter of the station, which is an NPR affiliate and a treasure of Northeast Ohio.

Bartz had this to say: “We are super-psyched to be the sponsor! It is important that our local NPR station has the ability to attend the national conventions.”

Photo of the Democratic National Convention in 2008 by Qqqqqq on Wikipedia.

2012 is an exciting year for national politics. State and Federal Communications, Inc. is your trusted resource for comprehensive lobbying and campaign finance guidelines to assist your organization with navigating the national party conventions. Here is our User’s Guide to National Party Conventions.

The Republican National Convention is being held in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Bay Times Forum from August 27th to August 30th. The Democratic National Convention opens at the Time Warner Cable Arena on September 3rd and closes on September 6th with President Obama accepting the nomination of his party at the Bank of America Stadium.

These conventions will be a gathering place for delegates and other party members from across the country and thus will represent an excellent opportunity for your organization to interface with a wide range of public officials.

Knowledge of the applicable federal, state, and local rules governing your interactions with both convention delegates and other public officials in attendance will ensure your organization has the tools available to say, “I Comply.”

What is important as you read the document is knowing the official names of the convention and host committees:

1. Republican Convention Committee —

Committee on Arrangements for the 2012 Republican National Convention;

2. Democratic Convention Committee —

The 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc.;

3. Republican Host Committee —

2012 Tampa Host Committee; and

4. Democratic Host Committee —

Charlotte in 2012 Host Committee.

In closing, we hope this resource serves you well during the upcoming convention season. The Research Department of State and Federal Communications, under Manager John Cozine, made sure we looked at all avenues of giving.

We wish you all the best this summer before the conventions.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Bartz

President and CEO of State and Federal Communications