Rough and tumble campaign tactics are nothing new in New York politics, but attack ads are anonymous legal. While federal candidates are required to disclose their approval of campaign ads, and groups that make independent expenditures in city races must identify themselves, New York City office seekers may trash their opponents freely without ever owning up to it.
My City Council Representative Daniel R. Garodnick, has a bill to ban anonymous campaign ads, which would not necessarily put an end to them altogether: The Campaign Finance Board would still have to identify those responsible. But it could impose fines according to how widely the ads circulated.
“We’ve set the standard for independent expenditures in New York City, and communications from candidates should be no different,” Mr. Garodnick said in an interview. “There should be no mystery about the source of political communications.”
A similar bill requiring campaign ads for or against a candidate to identify who paid for them was introduced last fall in the State Legislature by Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski of Rockland County.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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