With Rick's campaign coffers dwindling, he may turn to big bank employer for eleventh hour media blitz

After Citizens United, others on Wall Street have pledged not to directly fund campaign advertising; JP Morgan hasn't

Democrats today called on Rick Lazio, JP Morgan’s longtime lobbyist and GOP gubernatorial hopeful, to pledge that he will reject any last minute independent expenditure advertising blitz provided to him by JP Morgan, and to lobby the mammoth corporation to refrain from providing any similar expenditure on behalf of other candidates in 2010.

This request follows the game-changing Supreme Court decision from earlier this year, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which reversed a century of campaign finance restriction and allowed corporations to spend without limit in U.S. elections.

Recently, Goldman Sachs adopted a voluntary code of conduct that unilaterally restricts its own election advertising. (NY Times, 8/3/10)  This does not limit donations by Goldman Sachs employees or the company’s PAC. JP Morgan has yet to follow suit.

Lazio, meanwhile, has struggled to finance his own campaign, from his JP Morgan colleagues or otherwise; his campaign expenditures have outpaced contributions in the last filing period, and Lazio was forced to float his campaign a $200,000 loan. This invites the possibility that he will turn to his big bank employer to help with an eleventh hour media blitz.

“With the stroke of a pen, the Supreme Court wiped away a century of laws restricting corporate spending on elections. Unlike others, JP Morgan hasn’t pledged to limit its election spending, on the governor’s race or otherwise – leaving open the very real possibility that Rick Lazio’s employer will throw its considerable financial muscle behind his candidacy with unrestricted ads. Perhaps this doesn’t faze Lazio, who lobbied for JP Morgan for years, but it should send shivers down the spine of anyone who cares about limiting corporate influence in our electoral process,” said Jay Jacobs, Chair of the NYS Democratic Committee.

“Lazio should tell his big bank benefactor, JP Morgan, that just because it can buy an election, doesn’t mean it should. If Rick’s a halfway decent lobbyist, convincing his bosses at JP Morgan to refrain from electioneering on his behalf this fall should be a piece of cake,” said Jacobs.