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Judge Won’t Block Elon Musk’s Voter Lottery

November 4, 2024 at 5:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A Philadelphia judge is allowing Elon Musk’s America PAC to continue its million-dollar giveaway to registered swing state voters,” ABC News reports.

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Elon Musk Denied in Effort to Move Case to Federal Court

November 1, 2024 at 3:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A federal judge has rejected Elon Musk’s bid to move the Philadelphia lawsuit over his voter lottery scheme to federal court.

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Elon Musk Seeks to Move Lottery Lawsuit to Federal Court

October 31, 2024 at 8:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Elon Musk and his political action committee are seeking to move the Philadelphia District Attorney’s lawsuit targeting their $1 million swing state voter lottery to federal court,” CNBC reports.

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Dark Money and ‘Gray Money’ Fund Hidden Agendas

October 31, 2024 at 5:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Big-money operatives are taking advantage of lax rules at the end of the campaign to hide the true source of their money until after the election is called — or for forever,” the New York Times reports.

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Elon Musk’s Super PAC Sued Over Lottery for Voters

October 28, 2024 at 10:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a political action committee controlled by billionaire Elon Musk from awarding $1 million to registered voters in swing states,” CNBC reports.

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

U.S. Elections Cost More Than Anywhere Else

October 28, 2024 at 10:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “What many Americans may not realize is that U.S. elections are an outlier, especially compared to other industrialized democracies. Canada’s campaign typically lasts between 36 and 50 days. The total campaign bill for its 2021 election: $69 million in today’s dollars—about 1/27th the price tag per voter south of the border. U.S. elections cost about 40 times more per person than the U.K. or Germany.”

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Elon Musk Got Warning Letter for Lottery Scheme

October 23, 2024 at 2:59 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Justice Department’s head of election crimes sent a warning letter to Elon Musk’s America PAC Monday, alerting it that it was a crime to knowingly offer anything of value to register to vote or vote,” 24sight News reports.

“The warning letter did not specify any immediate legal action, but it did spell out the penalties for breaking U.S. voting laws, including possible imprisonment of up to five years.”

CNN: Justice Department warns Elon Musk that his $1 million giveaway to registered voters may be illegal.

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

PAC Paying Trump’s Legal Fees Runs Dry

October 21, 2024 at 4:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Save America, the leadership PAC that Trump has used to pay his legal bills and those of some of his associates, raised $1.4 million in September and spent $4 million, most of it on lawyers, demonstrating how the former president’s legal problems have continued to strain campaign resources.”

“The group had less than $2 million left in cash and owes nearly $5 million in legal debt.”

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Democrats Adopt Loophole GOP Using to Save on Ads

October 21, 2024 at 7:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Democrats are starting to use a campaign finance loophole to save big bucks on TV advertising — after failing to stop Republicans from doing the same,” Politico reports.

“Earlier this month, the Federal Election Commission deadlocked on a case brought forth by Democrats asking whether joint fundraising committees can run ads for candidates, as some Senate Republicans have been doing for months.”

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Senate Democrats Go to War Over GOP Ad Loophole

October 8, 2024 at 9:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Democrats are accusing Senate Republicans of illegally financing their campaign ads,” Axios reports.

“Democrats have been crushing the GOP in fundraising, forcing Republicans to get creative with campaign finance laws.”

“The FEC will decide this week if one GOP strategy can keep going, with a vote expected Thursday.”

“People who closely follow the commission tell Axios the expectation is for the vote to split along party lines — a 3-3 decision, clearing the way for the GOP to continue.”

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Election Spending Projected to Hit $16 Billion

October 8, 2024 at 10:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“This year’s spending to elect a president and members of Congress will hit at least $15.9 billion – putting 2024 on track to become the nation’s most expensive federal election,” CNN reports.

“Helping to drive up the price tag: blistering spending by outside groups, including deep-pocketed super PACs aiding Republicans. Outside spending – largely through independent expenditures such as advertising, mailings, canvassing and other activities to boost specific candidates – has reached roughly $2.6 billion. That’s nearly $1 billion more than groups like these spent at this point in the 2020 election.”

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Trump Spent More Than He Raised Again

October 2, 2024 at 8:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump’s campaign spent more than it raised for the second month in a row as the Republican nominee struggles to keep pace with Democrat Kamala Harris’ robust fundraising operation,” Bloomberg reports.

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Elon Musk Gave Millions to GOP Causes Far Earlier

October 2, 2024 at 4:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Elon Musk’s financial support for Republican causes has been much more extensive and started earlier than previously known,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Tesla CEO quietly gave tens of millions of dollars to groups with ties to Trump aide Stephen Miller and supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid.”

“The financial contributions, which haven’t previously been reported, show how Musk, who seemed to undergo a rapid political transformation this year, was a major force in funding Republican initiatives and candidates well before starting a super political-action committee in support of former President Donald Trump.”

“They also make him one of the biggest donors to conservative causes, which in combination with his large social-media following makes him one of the most influential figures in U.S. politics.”

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Harris Sends Signal to Independent Super PAC Donors

September 16, 2024 at 10:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Kamala Harris campaign sent a signal to deep-pocketed donors Monday by blessing the work of 13 independent groups that could help elect the vice president over the final 50 days through advertising, registration or other voter mobilization efforts,” the Washington Post reports.

“The announcement comes as the Harris campaign remains flush with late-summer cash after raising $615 million in the first six weeks after taking over President Joe Biden’s campaign.”

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

Wave of Anonymous Donations Fuels 2024 Campaign

June 4, 2024 at 10:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CBS News: Washington hates a secret. Yet in the summer of 2020, when a blandly named entity called the Impetus Fund received a $64 million donation from a single anonymous source, it touched off a guessing game with broad political implications.”

“That single anonymous donation, routed through a series of accounts, eventually would be used to help Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Critics say it has come to illustrate an increasingly opaque system of funding elections that in 2024 could reach a scale that dwarfs all previous election cycles.”

“The source of that donation remains unknown — and not for lack of effort. Fox News first reported on the curious donation in 2023, but was unable to ferret out the donor’s identity. A cottage industry of public interest groups and investigative reporters who dig relentlessly to unmask big-dollar donors, also came up empty.”

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Herschel Walker Sitting on Millions in Unspent Funds

May 28, 2024 at 6:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Few are clamoring for Herschel Walker’s return to politics since he flamed out in his Georgia Senate bid nearly two years ago. But they sure are interested in his campaign cash,” Politico reports.

“Georgia and national Republicans, in dire need of money, are furious that Walker is sitting on more than $4 million in leftover campaign funds and seems to have no intention of using it to help the GOP or Donald Trump in the key battleground state in November.”

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

GOP Lawmaker Admits He Lied About Loan to Campaign

May 22, 2024 at 11:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) “filed 11 amendments to his campaign finance reports Wednesday, acknowledging that his claims for the last two years to have loaned $320,000 to his campaign were not true,” WTVF reports.

“Ogles says that he actually loaned his campaign $20,000, instead of the $320,000 that he had previously claimed.”

Filed Under: Campaign Finance

Montana Attorney General Recruited His Own Challenger

May 18, 2024 at 10:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) told supporters “he skirted the state’s campaign finance laws by inviting another Republican to run against him as a token candidate in next month’s primary so he could raise more money for the November general election,” NBC Montana reports.

Said Knudsen: “I do technically have a primary. However, he is a young man who I asked to run against me because our campaign laws are ridiculous.”

Filed Under: 2024 Campaign, Campaign Finance

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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