WSJ Joins POLITICO, Washington Post, Etc., in Coverage of High-Profile Petition

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 10, 2012 – The Wall Street Journal reported this week on the Arent Fox Political Law Group’s representation of two political consulting firms in a groundbreaking petition asking the Federal Election Commission to approve political contributions through text messages.

The Journal reports:

Political campaigns are already raising millions of dollars via the Internet. Now, two political consulting firms are pushing a bipartisan plan to make online giving even easier by letting cellphone users make small donations with a single text.

Voters may soon be able to contribute to political campaigns via text message, which could boost the role of small-dollar donors in elections at a moment when large-dollar super PACs hog the stage.

Federal election law currently bars text-message donations, but officials are weighing a shift. "There's no rational reason that campaign contributions should not be part of the texting industry," said Craig Engle, an election-law attorney at Arent Fox who helped develop the plan.

If the idea goes through, candidates could urge supporters to text a word, like "donate," to a five-digit number. Then a fixed amount—generally in the range of $5 to $20—would be billed to the donor's cellphone account.

The Federal Election Commission is expected to make a decision in June.

To read the article in its entirety, please click here.

The Wall Street Journal article is the latest example of the media’s coverage of Arent Fox’s work in this matter over the past few weeks.

On May 5, Brett Kappel was quoted by POLITICO in an article on text messaged political donations. POLITICO wrote:

Cash from smaller donors “can absolutely be a counterweight to super PACs,” said Brett Kappel, a campaign finance attorney at Arent Fox who is representing the groups pushing for donations via text. He pointed to President Barack Obama and the unprecedented number of small donations he raised during the 2008 cycle, which helped fuel his rise to the White House. Donations via text messaging, in particular, could revolutionize political giving, campaign finance experts say.

Last week, The Washington Post wrote that the petition filed by Craig and Brett on behalf of Red Blue T, a Republican consulting firm, and ArmourMedia, a Democratic one, “could reshape the way many campaign donations are collected.”

The Hill, a Washington, DC-based newspaper covering government and politics, has also recently written on Craig and Brett’s work on the FEC petition, reporting:

“The mobile communications industry is advancing rapidly,” counsels Craig Engle and Brett Kappel wrote. “And with all due respect for the Commission's 38-year-old statute: the (Federal Election Campaign Act) should be interpreted to keep pace with modern telecommunications technology, rather than trying to fit the digital mobile wireless industry into the time of rotary phones.”