#campaign-finance

#campaign-finance

With less than two weeks to go until a hotly contested gubernatorial election in Virginia, the Republican candidate, whom her Democratic opponent's campaign calls "so far right, she's wrong for Virginia," is trying to appeal to a broad swath of voters. However, newly unearthed campaign-finance records, obtained by The Advocate, show that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle‑Sears donated thousands of dollars to a far-right Christian organization that has described in vitro fertilization as "child trafficking."

Publicly-funded warnings about disastrous local hospital closures are appearing in the mailboxes of Santa Clara County residents. Critics can't help but notice the timing. The foreboding mailers, under the county government's official letterhead, are appearing weeks before voters decide on a five-eighth-cent sales tax measure Nov. 4. County leaders say the sales tax, known as Measure A, will protect their massive public hospital system from life-threatening cuts under H.R. 1., the Trump administration bill that guts the county's largest source of hospital funding.

He's authored some really big, really consequential bills - including bills that have a lot of opposition,

A group of wealthy New York businessmen have in the past few days pumped more than $3 million into newly-formed super PACs that aim to stop mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani as the prospect of the democratic socialist running City Hall looks increasingly likely, new filings reveal. The last ditch spending blitz comes as the Democratic nominee continues to dominate the mayoral race, with polls showing him holding a double digit lead over his closest competitor, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo.

Elon Musk said he was going to donate to Rep. Thomas Massie in July. As of the end of September, it hasn't happened yet. The Kentucky Republican's campaign filed its latest quarterly report with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, and Musk's name appears nowhere among the various campaign donors listed in the document. The report covers all of the Massie campaign's donations and spending from the beginning of July through the end of September.

Following his inauguration, Gov. Patrick Morrisey's inaugural committee donated most of the leftover money it had collected to a nonprofit organization, which has been buying up Facebook ads to promote his initiatives. Last month, West Virginia Prosperity Group ran a series of advertisements telling people to call Morrisey and thank him for his energy and state budget policies. State law requires leftover money from inaugural committees to be donated either to a charity or a special fund for the governor's mansion.

According to a New York City Campaign Finance Board review and reporting by the New York Post, at least 170 donations came from individuals with foreign addresses - a direct violation of federal, state, and local laws that prohibit non-U.S. citizens or non-permanent residents from contributing to political campaigns. The donations, which include contributions from professionals in Canada, Germany, Australia, and the UAE, raise serious concerns about the legality - and integrity - of Mamdani's campaign operation.

The Mamdani campaign made a payment of $28,677.57 to DSA's NYC chapter on September 15 and filled in the purpose field that the funds were for "Other: explntion / Texting." Mamdani's campaign has previously given numerous smaller payments totaling roughly $3,000 to DSA for "Fundraising / Fundraising Emails" but the September donation represents by far the largest contribution to the group since his campaign was launched. NYC-DSA has received 36 payments, totaling over $33,000 from Mamdani's campaign since early 2025.

Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott has agreed to pay a hefty civil forfeiture after state regulators determined he unlawfully spent tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to further his "personal business future."

One was a fairly traditional super PAC, announced via a splashy press release, with multiple major industry players planning to donate over $100 million to boost AI-friendly candidates across the country. The other was far more unusual. Meta had quietly filed to create the Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across (Meta) California, a state-only super PAC that would allow Meta to spend its own money to run political ads on behalf of their AI interests - and only their interests.

If one of the old investigative journalism shows was publishing a story on this topic, they'd probably call the segment "Power Play: How Lobbyists Shape Transportation Infrastructure." The grandfatherly voice would open up with, "The corridors of power are often unseen, but their impact is felt by all." Dun dun dun. It's kind of their thing to sound over-the-top, but lobbying certainly deserves that sort of big-voiced, you-won't-believe-what-comes-next vibe. Lobbyists collect money from clients in order to buy legislation.

San Jose elected leaders are set to raise how much they can accept in gifts from business and labor interests, arguing it will save taxpayers money. The City Council on Tuesday will decide whether to raise its gift limits from $50 to $200, which equates to a higher number of free meals or tickets they can receive at networking luncheons, business conferences and nonprofit celebrations. The item is on the consent agenda, meaning it will be approved without discussion - unless an official pulls it to discuss with colleagues.

Streetsblog will spend Labor Day out on Eastern Parkway with the bands revelers (and politicians) at the city's annual West Indian Day Parade. We'll be back Tuesday with more award-winning local transportation journalism. Until then, check out the weekend's news: Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani suffered injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire. (NY Times) Even the New York Post is excited about this month's first ever Curbside Dining Week.

As the housing crisis and wealth inequality emerge as top issues for voters in New York City, mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani has called for higher taxes on the rich to pay for services and famously suggested that billionaires should not exist. Mamdani's viral campaign handily defeated Andrew Cuomo, New York's former governor, in a Democratic primary earlier this year. As expected, billionaires and billionaire-owned companies such as Airbnb and DoorDash are now spending big to defeat Mamdani and influence the race.

DoorDash has called the proposal "extreme" and said it "puts delivery and the benefits it brings at risk." And "when app lobbyists talk, many Council members pay close attention," writes The City's Claudia Irizarry Aponte.