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From Corruption to Accountability: Reforming Pay-to-Play Politics in Atlanta

Press Release

From Corruption to Accountability: Reforming Pay-to-Play Politics in Atlanta

For decades, the city of Atlanta has faced institutionalized corruption, hindering its potential as a cultural, business, and international hub. Common Cause Georgia exposed this corruption through a new report titled “The Atlanta Way: Examining Pay-to-Play."

Media Contacts

David Vance

National Media Strategist
dvance@commoncause.org
240-605-8600

Katie Scally

Communications Director
kscally@commoncause.org
408-205-1257

Ariana Marmolejo

Regional Communications Strategist (West)
amarmolejo@commoncause.org

Jennifer Garcia

Regional Communications Strategist (South)
jgarcia@commoncause.org

Kenny Colston

Regional Communications Strategist (Midwest)
kcolston@commoncause.org

Common Cause’s network of national and state democracy reform experts are frequent media commentators. To talk with one of our experts, please reach out to any member of the press team above.

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Associated Press: Wisconsin Republicans push redistricting plan to head off adverse court ruling

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Associated Press: Wisconsin Republicans push redistricting plan to head off adverse court ruling

The higher vote requirement is a critical component of any redistricting change, said Jay Heck, director of Common Cause Wisconsin.

The plan the Assembly is voting on was unveiled at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. There was no public hearing, and Democrats and advocates say they were not consulted in the drafting of the bill.

“It’s not serious," Heck said. "This is an act of desperation to head off the Supreme Court from redrawing the maps. ... It just doesn’t pass the smell test on any level.”

Daily Beast: House Dems Aim to Make ‘Overdue’ Reforms to the FEC

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Daily Beast: House Dems Aim to Make ‘Overdue’ Reforms to the FEC

Stephen Spaulding, vice president of policy at watchdog Common Cause, sharply objected to those new policies.

“To require line attorneys to seek four votes from commissioners for developments in their investigations, such as wanting to speak to a new witness—the commission already has a central role in providing supervisory guidance, they don’t need to micromanage, stepping into this role is unnecessary and would further create gridlock,” Spaulding told The Daily Beast.
“Committee Republicans have had a lot of...

Mother Jones: Wisconsin Republicans Are Taking Desperate Steps to Subvert Fair Elections in 2024

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Mother Jones: Wisconsin Republicans Are Taking Desperate Steps to Subvert Fair Elections in 2024

“Going back to 2011, there is such a long laundry list of pretty amazing things that they’ve done,” says Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin. “And it’s almost like, what else could they do? And then they come up with something like this.”

If the legislature rejects the maps drawn by the Legislative Reference Bureau, nonpartisan staff who work for the legislature, on two occasions, Republicans will have the power to draw their own partisan maps, which Heck says is “absolutely” Vos’ goal. Vos...

Associated Press: Santos misses extended deadline to file financial disclosure, blames fear of a ‘rushed job’

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Associated Press: Santos misses extended deadline to file financial disclosure, blames fear of a ‘rushed job’

Stephen Spaulding, the vice president of policy at Common Cause, a watchdog group, described Santos’ reasoning as “nonsensical,” noting there was no reason that his federal tax obligations should prevent him from filing the necessary disclosure.

“He is thumbing his nose at transparency requirements, his constituents and the public,” Spaulding said. “All the more reason to strengthen these penalties.”

While it is not uncommon for representatives to file their disclosures late, few of them blow past...

Associated Press: GOP legislative leaders’ co-chair flap has brought the Ohio Redistricting Commission to a standstill

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Associated Press: GOP legislative leaders’ co-chair flap has brought the Ohio Redistricting Commission to a standstill

“The Ohio Redistricting Commission isn’t functional,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a good government group, adding that bodes poorly for the creation of fair maps.

“If you can’t hear one another, you’re going to have trouble hearing the community, and hearing the folks that come to testify,” she said.

The Intercept: A TRUMP APPOINTEE IS TRYING TO GUT THE FEC’S ABILITY TO INVESTIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE CRIMES

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The Intercept: A TRUMP APPOINTEE IS TRYING TO GUT THE FEC’S ABILITY TO INVESTIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE CRIMES

The proposal, if approved, will result in the commissioners “micromanaging things” that have long been in the OGC’s purview, said Stephen Spaulding, vice president of policy and external affairs at Common Cause, who served as a special counsel to a former Democratic FEC commissioner from May 2016 to May 2017. “It will slow investigations down and ultimately leaves the law unenforced, if they’re tied up in having meetings about whether the nonpartisan attorneys in the Office of General Counsel can even bring in another witness.”

Axios: Ohio redistricting fight resumes this week

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Axios: Ohio redistricting fight resumes this week

What they're saying: Catherine Turcer, executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Ohio, says the reforms of 2015 and 2018 were not enough to keep partisan officials from being "drunk on power."

"What we've learned is it's not enough to have good rules in the Ohio Constitution," she tells Axios.

"We need independent mapmakers who aren't influenced by loyalty to party."

Associated Press: Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates often speak out on hot topics. Only one faces impeachment threat

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Associated Press: Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates often speak out on hot topics. Only one faces impeachment threat

“It’s self-serving, selective outrage,” Jay Heck, director of Common Cause of Wisconsin, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, said of impeachment. “Where was their outrage and their demands for recusal when conservatives in the past have weighed in about their values?”

The Guardian: Republicans threaten to impeach newly elected Wisconsin supreme court judge

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The Guardian: Republicans threaten to impeach newly elected Wisconsin supreme court judge

“I think what you’re seeing all around the country are governors and Republican-controlled legislatures looking at what other states have done and saying, ‘Wow, look at that. We should try that here,’” said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin.

Heck called the threat of impeachment an overreach and described concerns about Protasiewicz’s campaign statements as “selective outrage”, given previous conservative justices’ public comments on issues before the court. Heck pointed to a 2015 case in...

Fresno Bee (Op-Ed): Fresno officials gerrymandered their districts. Time to take our voting rights back

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Fresno Bee (Op-Ed): Fresno officials gerrymandered their districts. Time to take our voting rights back

Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and the fundamental right that makes possible all other civil liberties and policy decisions. But a threat to that right now comes before the ballot box: Redistricting, which can make or break a community’s ability to participate in our democracy. It determines who does — and does not — have fair representation.

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