Hobbled federal campaign finance enforcer loses another member
From POLITICO: The FEC, which hasn’t had the quorum necessary to conduct business in nearly five months, will be losing another member. Vice Chair James E. “Trey” Trainor III will be stepping down, likely to run for the House in Texas. Three other commissioners left the FEC earlier this year, meaning that the six-person board will be left with only two members. Without a quorum, the FEC is unable to vote on investigations or issue citations for campaign finance violations. Members of the FEC are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, but President Trump has not appointed anyone to fill the vacancies.
NJ teachers union misused dues to fund chief’s bid for governor, lawsuit claims
From the New Jersey Monitor: The New Jersey Education Association, a teacher’s union, spent over $40 million backing its then-president Sean Spiller’s failed campaign for NJ governor earlier this year. Now, two teachers are suing the union for improper use of funds, claiming that the union breached its contract by funding the Super PAC that supported Spiller. The suit also alleges that the union improperly reported some of its contributions to the PAC as cash grants instead of political contributions, and that Spiller controlled an issue advocacy nonprofit that received funds from the Super PAC and ran ads promoting Spiller before his campaign started.
Talarico outraises Allred with massive fundraising haul to kick off Senate Democratic primary
From The Texas Tribune: The Democratic primary for the 2026 Senate election in Texas is shaping up to be an expensive one, according to the latest fundraising reports. State Rep. James Talarico raised $6.2 million in the three weeks since he officially launched his campaign, compared to the $4.1 million raised by former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred in the past three months. Both are outpacing Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign against Ted Cruz, which took 9 months to raise over $6 million.
Eric Adams’s Campaign Is Over. His Campaign Finance Problems Are Not
From The New York Times: Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams recently dropped out of the race for New York City Mayor, but is still facing an investigation from the NYC Campaign Finance Board. The Board, which denied him matching public campaign funds all through the 2025 campaign, is also investigating whether to claw back $10 million in matching funds from his 2021 campaign. The board is issuing subpoenas and investigating matters connected to Adams’ federal corruption case, which was dropped by President Trump’s Justice Department. Some of the charges center on the Mayor’s alleged use of straw donors to increase his eligibility for matching funds.
