Matthew Sanderson is an associate in the Political Activity Law practice group of Caplin & Drysdale.
Services
Mr. Sanderson helps corporations, political committees, candidates, and advocacy groups comply with the increasingly numerous and complex federal, state, and local laws that govern political activity and commercial interaction with public-sector clients. Specifically, he advises clients on campaign-finance, “pay-to-play”, ethics, and lobbying rules.
Highlights
Mr. Sanderson served as Campaign Finance Counsel for McCain-Palin 2008, Senator John McCain's presidential campaign committee. He now serves as Chief of Staff for the Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy, an entity created by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. to review Utah’s ethics, lobbying, campaign-finance, redistricting, and election laws. Mr. Sanderson is a graduate of the University of Utah and of Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was a Chancellor’s Scholar and member of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law.
Mr. Sanderson is a fluent Mandarin speaker. He and his wife Emily have three children.
Selected Recent Publications
- Two Birds, One Stone: Reversing “Frontloading” by Fixing the Presidential Public Funding System, Virginia Journal of Law and Politics (Forthcoming)
- Sanderson: Analysis of Bill Clinton's Cybersquatting Loss, Election Law Blog (June 4, 2009)
- A Dot-Pol of Their Own, Washington Post (April 13, 2009)
- Candidates, Squatters and Gripers: A Primer on Political Cybersquatting and A Proposal for Reform, Election Law Journal (2009)
- Federal Campaign Finance Law: A Primer for the Lobbyist, ABA Lobbying Manual (with Trevor Potter, 2009)
- Lobbyist Bundling of Campaign Contributions, ABA Lobbying Manual (with Trevor Potter, 2009)
- From Intent to Outcome: Balloting and Tabulation Around the World, ABA International Election Law Principles (with Joseph Birkenstock, 2008)
- Voodoo Economics: A Look Abroad for a Supply-Side Solution to America's Campaign Finance Riddle, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (2008)