News Clips

Susan Lerner, the executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause New York, said it was too soon to know if Adams had acted improperly. But she said the indictment was evidence that the city’s public financing system was working as intended. “The campaign finance system we have in New York City deliberately makes it harder for people who want to buy influence,” Lerner said. “The lesson here is do not try to game the system because you will be caught.”

“We know there are folks engaging with these state agencies who otherwise aren’t registered to vote, so this is a great way to ensure they’re getting on the voter rolls,” said Geoff Foster, the executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, which played a key role in getting the state’s Medicaid AVR system passed. “AVR was a huge win to address … the disconnect keeping a certain part of our population who are otherwise eligible to vote from getting on the voter rolls. And Medicaid recipients are certainly part of that community.”

In a Voting Rights Act case, Allen v. Milligan, a 5-4 majority of the court upheld that Alabama lawmakers may be required to draw a second congressional district where Black voters could elect candidates of their choice before the 2024 election. Kathay Feng, vice president of programs at Common Cause, said the case has massive consequences for minority voters nationwide. “Even though people have been very worried about the Supreme Court upending precedent in high-profile cases, in Allen v. Milligan, where the court said the Voting Rights Act still serves an important function in protecting minority voting rights, the court chose to affirm, and that is a very big deal,” Feng said. Feng noted that was one of several major cases in which conservative justices bucked colleagues such as Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. to rule alongside the Democratic appointees. She said those “shifting sands” could be important in major cases going forward, including where the court will hear a dispute over South Carolina’s congressional map next term. “I think we should be watching very closely to see a potential realignment, some common cause between some unusual partners on the court,” Feng said.

The state of the republic is precarious. But I am hopeful that democracy will prevail because it is resilient. We the people have faced serious threats in the past, including even the Civil War, and we have overcome them. We must continue to pass laws to strengthen our democracy in many states. In other states, we will not back down from defeating a new generation of Jim Crow laws crafted to keep targeted communities from the polls.

The report, released by Common Cause Nebraska, showed that the businesses and organizations that hire lobbyists spent more than $21.4 million on their lobbying efforts during 2022. That’s up 5.5% from the year before and 10.6% from 2019, before the pandemic hit. “It’s pretty dramatic, I think,” said Jack Gould, the Common Cause issues chair. “This report shows the ever-growing influence of lobbying and why Nebraskans must demand better.” Gould said the figures are a concern because the groups that can afford to hire lobbyists gain more clout in the legislative process than the average Nebraskan. Among other things, lobbyists are able to build relationships with senators and become key sources of information for them.

Julia Vaughn, executive director of the nonpartisan political watchdog group Common Cause Indiana, pointed to one indicator of a healthy democracy. "Voter turnout is one of the ways that we judge whether or not you have a vibrant democracy," said Vaughn. "You know, are people participating? Do they want to come out and make their voices heard through the electoral process?" Vaughn said it's more proof that concern is growing as the next presidential contest draws near. "People have had a sense of dread and apprehension, certainly about federal elections, and in particular presidential elections since 2016," said Vaughn. "So, it seems every four years, people are just really holding their breath and, 'Oh no, what is the outcome going to be?'"