New piece: "Election Deniers Skirted Campaign Finance Laws in Wisconsin"
I have a new piece up on the Brennan Center’s website where I discuss a recent scandal in Wisconsin and what it says about the current state of campaign finance regulation. The piece was shared this morning by the legal scholar Rick Hasen’s Election Law Blog, which I read nearly every day. Check it out if you’re interested! Here’s the beginning:
Election denial is fueled by lies, polarization — and money. In many races, wealthy donors have exploited weak and poorly enforced campaign finance laws to boost the efforts of election deniers.
A legislative race in the battleground state of Wisconsin offers a telling example. After the state’s GOP assembly speaker, Robin Vos, rebuffed calls to decertify the state’s 2020 election results, he faced a 2022 primary challenge from an election denier, Adam Steen. Last month, the state’s bipartisan ethics commission found that Steen’s campaign coordinated with local election deniers, county parties, and Donald Trump’s Save America PAC in an effort to illegally bypass state campaign contribution limits.
Wisconsin law prohibits individuals from contributing more than $1,000 per election cycle to any assembly candidate. But thanks to a 2015 change in the law, there is no limit for donations to political party committees, which in turn can make unlimited donations to candidates. It is illegal for people to take advantage of that by coordinating with party committees to route their donations to a particular campaign, but proving such a conspiracy in court is usually difficult. Prosecutors must now decide whether to bring criminal charges, which have been recommended by the bipartisan ethics commission.
The scheme to funnel money to Steen was particularly blatant. According to an investigation authorized by the commission, Steen’s campaign struck up arrangements with State Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R), a vocal election denier; Save America PAC; and three county GOP organizations to disguise individuals’ donations as having come from parties.
And, once again, here’s the link.