E. StewartCrosland

Partner

Washington + 1.202.879.3951

Stewart Crosland counsels clients on all aspects of law related to the political process and elections, with particular focus on challenging campaign finance issues and high-stakes regulatory enforcement, congressional investigations, and other governmental oversight matters. Stewart has represented numerous corporate and political clients — including officeholders, former cabinet officers, political campaigns, and the national Republican political party committees — through congressional oversight investigations, Department of Justice (DOJ) inquiries, and enforcement actions at the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Stewart also has years of experience counseling presidential and Senate campaigns, Super PACs (political action committees), and party committees in federal and state court litigation and on their vast compliance needs, including federal and state election laws; ethics and pay-to-play rules; advertising, sweepstakes, and promotions laws; and telecommunications regulations, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

During the 2016 election cycle, Stewart served as senior counsel at the Republican National Committee (RNC), where he had day-to-day responsibility for ensuring the party's compliance with campaign finance rules and other election laws; reviewed digital, mail, and telephone fundraising and advocacy communications; and gained substantial experience administering and ensuring compliance of presidential joint fundraising committees. Stewart also drafted responses to enforcement complaints, comments to rulemakings, and other filings to the FEC and was responsible for managing RNC litigation matters.

Stewart previously served as counsel to two chairmen of the FEC, where he provided legal counsel on their administration and enforcement of the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC regulations, gaining firsthand understanding of the agency's enforcement, advisory opinion, rulemaking, and audit processes.

Experience

  • Heritage Action for America successfully challenges FEC's concealment policyJones Day successfully represented Heritage Action for America in challenging a policy adopted by the Federal Election Commission to deliberately conceal from the public and courts the FEC Commissioners' votes deadlocking on whether administrative complaints warranted agency enforcement efforts.
  • Nonprofit secures dismissal of novel citizen suit under Federal Election Campaign ActIn a case of first impression, Jones Day successfully represented a nonprofit group in defense of a Federal Election Campaign Act citizen suit, securing dismissal of the suit.
  • Arizona Republican Party obtains landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisionIn a landmark decision on July 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Jones Day’s client, the Arizona Republican Party, by upholding Arizona’s ban on ballot harvesting and its rule that in-person voters must cast ballots in their assigned precincts.
  • National political campaign obtains appellate stay of discovery in TCPA litigationJones Day represented a national political campaign in obtaining an emergency stay of discovery pending appeal in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuit.
  • State and national political party committees defend election statute in Pennsylvania Supreme CourtJones Day represented state and national political party committees that intervened to defend a Pennsylvania election administration statute.