North Carolina Press Release
Press
Media Contacts
Katie Scally
Communications Director
kscally@commoncause.org
202-736-5713
Ariana Marmolejo
Communications Strategist
amarmolejo@commoncause.org
Kenny Colston
Regional Communications Strategist (Midwest)
kcolston@commoncause.org
Maya Majikas
Communications Strategist
mmajikas@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.
Press Release
FCC Votes to Restore Net Neutrality
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to restore Net Neutrality. The move restores the FCC’s authority under Title II of the Communications Act to oversee broadband providers and enforce the open-internet protections. The Open Internet Order was repealed during the Trump Administration in the face of widespread public opposition – including comments filed during the proceedings opposing the controversial reversal by the agency.
News Clip
New York Times: In Immunity Case, Trump Can Lose in Ways That Amount to a Win
“If the court orders additional proceedings in the district court, holding trial before the election will become virtually impossible,” said a brief supporting Mr. Smith from Common Cause, a watchdog group.
Press Release
Arizona Indicts 2020 False Electors
Today, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced she would be returning indictments for the Arizona Republicans who were involved with the “fake elector” scheme during the 2020 election. Among those indicted include former AZ GOP Chair Kelli Ward, and sitting lawmakers Sen. Jake Hoffman and Sen. Anthony Kern.
News Clip
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer (Op-Ed): For the sake of our state, it’s time to pull out HB 6, root and branch
For the past four years, a heavy cloud has hung over Ohio and our state legislature in the form of House Bill 6 and disgraced former Speaker Larry Householder.
The HB 6 scheme has been a textbook example of corruption, embarrassing Ohioans with endless indictments, guilty verdicts and negative news stories. Now, four years later, it still dominates headlines, with the recent revelation of payments to conservative groups to support Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. John Husted, and Senate President Matt Huffman.
The HB 6 scheme has been a textbook example of corruption, embarrassing Ohioans with endless indictments, guilty verdicts and negative news stories. Now, four years later, it still dominates headlines, with the recent revelation of payments to conservative groups to support Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. John Husted, and Senate President Matt Huffman.
News Clip
Daily Beast: Trump’s New Legal Bills Are Hiding an $8 Million Mystery
Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at good government watchdog Common Cause, agreed with Fischer’s assessment that the payments may violate reporting and corporate contribution laws.
“By a legal sleight of hand, it appears that Trump world is trying to hide the true recipients of these donations,” Scherb told The Daily Beast. He noted that corporations aren’t allowed to donate directly to these committees, and that corporations can’t reimburse contributors. The payments, Scherb said, must be...
“By a legal sleight of hand, it appears that Trump world is trying to hide the true recipients of these donations,” Scherb told The Daily Beast. He noted that corporations aren’t allowed to donate directly to these committees, and that corporations can’t reimburse contributors. The payments, Scherb said, must be...
News Clip
Vanity Fair: Jack Smith’s One Job Is to Take Donald Trump to Trial Before the Election. (The Supreme Court May Not Let Him.)
One voting rights group, Common Cause, had the wherewithal to spell out, in no uncertain terms, that the justices are already tipping the scales in favor of Trump and that the public would be well within its right to view the justices as partisan hacks if they drag things out any further. “If this Court’s delay in disposing of this appeal has the result of preventing the case from going to trial prior to the election—or going to trial at all—it would give many Americans the sense that the Court, through its arbitrary and unexplained...
Press Release
“Democracy Scorecard” Tracks Lawmaker Support for Pro-Democracy Bills in 118th Congress
With 2024 congressional races in full swing, Common Cause is again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. For the fifth cycle in a row, Members of the House and Senate have received letters from Common Cause asking them to co-sponsor and support up to ten democracy reform bills. The letters inform Members that their voting and co-sponsorship record will be published in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard,” which will be distributed to the organization’s 1.5 million members, as...
News Clip
Bloomberg: NY Court Will Publish Trump Criminal Trial Transcripts Online
The announcement comes three days after Common Cause New York, which advocates for election and ethics reform, and New York Focus, a nonprofit newsroom, called for the state court system to make the transcripts available, noting that public access is limited as New York is one of the only state court systems that charge the media and public for courtroom transcripts.
“The longstanding issue of public access to court proceedings has been thrown into sharp relief by the Trump trial,” the organizations said Friday.
“The longstanding issue of public access to court proceedings has been thrown into sharp relief by the Trump trial,” the organizations said Friday.
News Clip
New York Times: New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online
“Disinformation will remain an issue as long as the strategic gains of engaging in it, promoting it and profiting from it outweigh consequences for spreading it,” Common Cause, the nonpartisan public interest group, wrote in a report published last week that warned of a new wave of disinformation around this year’s vote.
Press Release
New Report Previews 2024 Election Disinformation
A new report from Common Cause examines the serious and growing threat posed by disinformation in the 2024 election. “Storm Watch: Protecting Voters from Disinformation in the 2024 Election” outlines what we have seen and what we anticipate in the months leading up to November 5, and beyond. The report points to the continuing critical need to combat election disinformation at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) has become more accessible and social media platforms have drastically reduced efforts to control the expanding threat to...
Press Release
44 GROUPS URGE LAWMAKERS TO CO-SPONSOR INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY ACT, RESTORE VOTING RIGHTS OF MILLIONS AHEAD OF THE ELECTION
Today, 44 organizations representing the National Voting in Prison Coalition sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives urging them to co-sponsor the Inclusive Democracy Act (IDA), legislation to end felony disenfranchisement in federal elections for individuals completing their sentence inside and outside of prison and jail. The IDA was introduced earlier this year by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-7). Currently, the IDA has 23 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and is awaiting a hearing.
News Clip
Boston Globe: Public records undergird R.I.’s biggest news stories
“There’s extreme public interest on what happened on that trip,” Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John M. Marion said, noting that one of the former state officials, David Patten, was recently fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission for accepting a free lunch at an upscale Sicilian restaurant during that trip. ”So great example of sort of how public records get us information that holds government officials accountable.”
Common Cause is fighting to make a democracy that works for everyone.
Common Cause has spent 2025 proving that special interests are no match for our people-powered movement that began over 50 years ago.
From the halls of Congress to local election offices, we’ve built a movement that stands up to corruption, strengthens accountability, and protects the power of the people. And with your help, we can go even further.
Make an End of Year gift to defend YOUR rights →