News Clips

“Despite the state’s ethics laws, McGuireWoods’ wealthy clients will be able to buy a lot of access and influence through Mr. Howell — access and influence not available to the average Virginian,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause.

"Our plaintiffs clearly have standing and have suffered real harm by the legislature's extreme partisan gerrymandering," Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said in a release. "This case is key to protecting the constitutional right of citizens in North Carolina and across the nation to have a voice in choosing their representatives."

“In Ohio and other states, we’ve looked at ways to move the state Legislature to action,” says Catherine Turcer, executive director for Common Cause Ohio. “When we couldn’t, we started collecting signatures for a citizens’ initiative.”

"All sides play the game," said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. "The world we live in these days."

The North Carolina case has an element not present in the Wisconsin or Maryland cases. Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, called it the "so-called smoking gun."

Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, said the ethics commission had ceded its authority to Mr. Lhota in the email. She called on the transportation authority to hire an independent auditor to investigate Mr. Lhota’s web of conflicts. “The situation has evolved so that Joe Lhota himself decides if Joe Lhota has a conflict of interest,” Ms. Lerner said.