Michael Toner Quoted in Coverage of 2020 Presidential Candidates’ Legal Spending

October 17, 2019

Michael E. Toner, chair of Wiley Rein’s premier Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was quoted by Law360 in an October 16 article about legal spending by candidates in the 2020 presidential race.

“Presidential campaigns are big business for law firms,” said Mr. Toner, a former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). “Candidates’ legal spending has grown as money in politics in America has exploded.”

Presidential candidates often seek outside legal assistance in navigating FEC reporting requirements, ballot access laws in all U.S. states and territories, federal restrictions on advertising, and many other matters, according to the article.

A presidential campaign has “all of the challenges of a startup,” Mr. Toner said. “The only difference is they ramp up rapidly, spend hundreds of millions of dollars, end up broke, and dissolve.”

To read the article, click here (subscription required).