THE HIGH COURT — The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today for a case that some argue could be a sneaky way for the high court to revisit donor disclosure laws, especially for nonprofits. A pair of conservative nonprofits — the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, the Koch network-backed organization, and the Thomas More Law Center — are challenging a California law that requires charities to disclose the names of larger donors to the state attorney general, who needs to keep said donor info confidential. That's pretty far away from what we usually cover, but some disclosure-minded campaign finance watchdogs have argued that a conservative Supreme Court could use it to revisit other donor-disclosure rules. That possibility was articulated recently in a piece from Vox's Ian Millhiser: "Though there are some important differences between the argument in the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's brief and the Thomas More Law Center's brief, both argue that Citizens United 's relatively permissive rule governing disclosure laws should be, in the words of the former brief, 'confined to election regulation.' Thus, while the government may be able to require advocacy groups to disclose their donors when those groups attempt to influence an election, disclosure laws enacted in any other context would be treated as more suspect." That line of thought, Millhiser argues, "could very easily allow advocacy groups to evade disclosure rules that apply to election ads and similar communications with voters, so long as those communications superficially appear to focus on 'issues.'" The court very well may dodge a sweeping ruling on disclosure laws, and the arguments later today could hint at what the justices are thinking. It has also created coalitions that transcend traditional political lines as well: Groups like the ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Human Rights Campaign filed a brief arguing that the California law "risks undermining the freedom to associate for expressive purposes." Those disclosure-minded groups, including Campaign Legal Center and Common Cause, have urged the high court to affirm a lower court's order that upholds the law. For more, check out SCOTUSBlog's Amy Howe's in-depth preview on the case. JUST SPECIAL — Carter defeated fellow Democratic state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson to win the special election in LA-02, a blow to progressives who had rallied behind Peterson. Now-Rep.-elect Carter had the support of White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond, who resigned from Congress to advise President Joe Biden, while many national progressives had backed Peterson, Ally notes. Here's the local coverage from The Times-Picayune's Tyler Bridges. MONEY MOVES — Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is committing $10 million to a super PAC supporting Republican Blake Masters, the chief operating officer of Thiel Capital and the president of the Thiel Foundation, who is soon expected to launch a Senate bid in Arizona, POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reported. — A super PAC called Jobs for Our Future is backing real estate developer Jeff Bartos in the Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania and has raised $750,000 thus far, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein reported. THE PROCESS — The Arizona state Senate has begun an audit of all the ballots cast in the last election in Maricopa County, turning the process "over to Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based consultancy with no election experience run by a man who has shared unfounded conspiracy theories claiming the official 2020 presidential election results are illegitimate," the AP's Jonathan Cooper and Bob Christie wrote, which is deeply concerning to elections professionals "who fear the auditors are not up to the complex task and will severely undermine faith in democracy." The audit is funded in part by the Republican-controlled state Senate, who put up $150,000 for the effort. But the far-right channel One America News Network, which promotes election conspiracy theories, also raised money for the audit and isn't disclosing donors. Former President Donald Trump has cheered on the effort in statements. Members of the press also aren't allowed to observe the audit, the Arizona Republic's Jen Fifield and Andrew Oxford reported. The Republic: "The only way for the press — and the public at large — to watch events is via nine cameras set up inside the coliseum … An Arizona Republic reporter served as an official observer at the coliseum Friday but was not allowed to take notes, take photos or do any other work a journalist would do in monitoring a recount." The camera feeds on the streaming site are fairly wide shots. Democrats in the state sued to stop the audit. A judge on Friday agreed to pause the count, but only if the state party put up a $1 million bond to cover the cost of the delays, which it declined to do. The Republic's Oxford on Friday, which was the first day of the count: "A court battle nearly stopped it. And, as the recount was starting, officials seemed to be figuring out rules and training on the fly. Later, the daily press briefings that were promised were placed on an indefinite hiatus. … Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury ordered that the recount fully comply with Arizona law and asked the Senate, as well as its contractors, to provide more information on policies and procedures for a hearing on Monday morning." NOTABLE FLOATABLES — Democratic Rep. Val Demings is "seriously considering" a statewide run in Florida in 2022, where she could challenge either GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis or Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, she said in an interview with POLITICO's Olivia Beavers and Marc Caputo . But, as Olivia and Marc write, "even the most optimistic Florida Democrat knows that a statewide campaign in Florida will be difficult in 2022." Democrats have suffered a series of heartbreaks in the Sunshine State over the last decade, and the party in power typically faces strong headwinds in the midterms. And POLITICO's Alex Thompson writes in that Demings is building a team for the potential statewide bid and is bringing on Zack Carroll, who managed current DNC Chair Jaime Harrison's 2020 Senate campaign, as an adviser. — Iowa state Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, said on an episode of "Iowa Press" that he is considering either a gubernatorial or Senate run in 2022, per the Quad-City Times' Erin Murphy. — Former NASCAR driver Carl Edwards was asked about a run for the open Missouri Senate seat in an interview with The Kansas City Star's Randy Covitz, after floating a run in 2018. Put him in the "not a no, but probably not" category: "I don't have an active campaign going on. But I do believe in America, and I really do believe in the founding principles and individual freedom and liberty and sustainability of our way of life. There might be a day when I'm able to help with that." RECALL TIME — Republican Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic gold medalist turned reality TV star, is officially running in the all-but-certain effort to recall California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, in news first reported by Axios' Lachlan Markay, Alayna Treene and Jonathan Swan. But before you fire up the comparisons to the 2003 recall, which megastar Arnold Schwarzezenegger ultimately won, POLITICO California's Carla Marinucci and Jeremy B. White argue that you should pump the brakes for a second, writing that California in 2021 is a very different state. Among the reasons why the races shouldn't be compared is that California is much more Democratic now, and Trump's shadow looms large. THE GOVERNATORS — Former one-term Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham will launch a challenge to South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster today, he said in an interview with The Post and Courier's Thomas Novelly over the weekend. — The Nebraska Republican gubernatorial primary is taking shape: The Lincoln Journal-Star's Don Walton writes that businessman Charles Herbster is expected to launch his campaign later today, and speculation abounds on if outgoing GOP Gov. Pete Ricketts endorses University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen in the primary — and whether Trump endorses Herbster. LANDMARK LEGISLATION? — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out a timeline for a vote on H.R. 1 (117)/S. 1 (117), Democrats' sweeping elections legislation, saying "the deadline for S.1 is … probably by August or so" in an interview with MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan. THE HOUSE MAP — Republican lawmakers are in Orlando for their annual legislative retreat. And, POLITICO's Melanie Zanona writes, "it's less about how they can win back the majority and more about: How do they avoid messing things up?" Mel writes that Republicans are feeling very confident about their chances to flip the lower chamber, but they "also know the next 18 months are littered with political tripwires, from internal divisions over the former president trying to influence them from Mar-a-Lago to the fringe elements in their ranks that threaten to swamp their agenda." — One of the potentially most competitive House seats in 2022 will be Democratic Rep. Jared Golden's ME-02. And ahead of any redistricting, the Bangor Daily News' Caitlin Andrews, Jessica Piper and Michael Shepherd have a look at the brewing Republican primary, with state Rep. Mike Perkins becoming "the first relatively well-known Maine Republican" to say he's considering a bid.
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