Ann M. Ravel

Biography

Commissioner Ann M. Ravel was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President Barack Obama on June 21, 2013. After her appointment received the unanimous consent of the United States Senate, Ms. Ravel joined the Commission on October 25, 2013. She served as Chair of the Commission for 2015 and Vice Chair for 2014.

From March 2011 until her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Ravel served as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to which Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed her. At the FPPC, Ms. Ravel oversaw the regulation of campaign finance, lobbyist registration and reporting, and ethics and conflicts of interest related to officeholders and public employees. During her tenure at the FPPC, Ms. Ravel was instrumental in the creation of the States' Unified Network (SUN) Center, a web-based center for sharing information on campaign finance.

Before joining the FPPC, Ms. Ravel served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Torts and Consumer Litigation in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Ms. Ravel also worked as an attorney in the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office, ultimately serving as the appointed County Counsel from 1998 until 2009. Ms. Ravel represented the County and its elected officials, provided advice on the state Political Reform Act, and initiated groundbreaking programs in elder abuse litigation, educational rights, and consumer litigation on behalf of the Santa Clara County government and the community.

Ms. Ravel has served as an elected Governor on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, a member of the Judicial Council of the State of California, and Chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. In 2014, she was named a California Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine for her work in Government law, and in 2007, the State Bar of California named Ms. Ravel Public Attorney of the Year for her contributions to public service.

Ms. Ravel received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Ms. Ravel is the daughter of a Latin American immigrant mother and an American father. She was raised in Latin America before her family settled in the San Francisco Bay area, which she considers home.

Statements and opinion

Advisory Opinions

• Statement on Advisory Opinion 2014-11, Health Care Service Corporation Employees' Political Action Committee, October 17, 2014 (PDF)
• Advisory Opinion 2014-02, Make Your Laws PAC, Inc., May 8, 2014 (PDF)
• Advisory Opinion 2013-18, Revolution Messaging, LLC, February 27, 2014 (PDF)

Audits

• Statement on Final Audit of Utah State Democratic Committee, January 14, 2016 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit of the South Dakota Democratic Party, March 25, 2015 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit of the Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, March 25, 2015 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit of the Democratic Party of Illinois, October 23, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit of the Nebraska Democratic Party, August 14, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit of the State Democratic Executive Committee of Alabama, May 8, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit Reports of the Vermont Democratic Party, Dallas County Republican Party, Democratic Party of South Carolina and Republican Party of Iowa, March 18, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on Final Audit Report of the Republican Party of Iowa, March 18, 2014 (PDF)

Enforcement

• MUR 7081, Floridians for a Strong Middle Class, February 28, 2017
• MUR 6988, Conservative Solutions Project, Inc., January 12, 2017 (PDF)
• MUR 6589R, American Action Network, December 5, 2016 (PDF)
• MUR 6880, Carolina Rising, November 18, 2016 (PDF)
• MURs 6974, Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America and Susan Neithamer in her official capacity as treasurer, August 8, 2016 (PDF)
• MUR 6952, Fox News Network, LLC, June 30, 2016 (PDF)
• MURs 6661, Robert E. Murray, et al., May 20, 2016 (PDF)
• MURs 6485 (W Spann LLC, et al.), 6487 & 6488 (F8, LLC, et al.), 6711 (Specialty Investments, Inc., et al.), and 6930 (Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, et al.), April 13, 2016 (PDF)
• MURs 6485 (W Spann LLC, et al.), 6487 & 6488 (F8, LLC, et al.), 6711 (Specialty Investments, Inc., et al.), and 6930 (Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, et al.), April 1, 2016 (PDF)
• MURs 6612 and 6696, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, January 22, 2016 (PDF)
• MUR 6535, Restore Our Future, Inc., December 17, 2015 (PDF)
• MURs 6391 and 6471, Commission on Hope, Growth & Opportunity, November 5, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6869, Commission on Presidential Debates, July 29, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6651, Murray Energy Corporation, et al., July 23, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6294, Americans for Job Security, May 15, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6678, Mindgeek USA, Inc., et al., April 22, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6795, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, February 4, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6660, Americans Elect, et al., February 4, 2015 (PDF)
• MUR 6402, American Future Fund, December 18, 2014 (PDF)
• MUR 6729, Checks and Balances for Economic Growth, October 24, 2014 (PDF)
• MURs 6538 and 6589, American for Job Security and American Action Network, July 30, 2014 (PDF)
• MUR 6722 & 6723, House Majority PAC, et al., April 4, 2014 (PDF)
• MUR 6756, Winning Our Future, February 27, 2014 (PDF)
• MUR 6396, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, January 10, 2014 (PDF)

Policies, procedures and directives

• Remarks of Chair Ann M. Ravel at the FEC's Final Open Meeting of 2015, December 17, 2015 (PDF)
• Remarks of Chair Ann M. Ravel at the 40th Anniversary of the Federal Election Commission, April 14, 2015 (PDF)
• Remarks of Chair Ann M. Ravel at the FEC's First Open Meeting of 2015, January 15, 2015 (PDF)
• Text of Letter to the Editor of The Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on Judicial Review of Deadlocked Votes, June 17, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement Regarding McCutcheon v. FEC, April 2, 2014 (PDF)

Statements and reports

• Remarks to the FEC Staff by Chairman Steven T. Walther and Commissioner Ann M. Ravel, February 23, 2017 (Video)
• Dysfunction and Deadlock: The Enforcement Crisis at the Federal Election Commission Reveals the Unlikelihood of Draining the Swamp, February 2017 (PDF)

Protecting Ballot Measures From Foreign Interference

• Letter from Commissioners Ann M. Ravel and Ellen L. Weintraub to House Administration Ranking Member Bob Brady, September 21, 2016 (PDF)
• Statement of Chair Ann M. Ravel Delivered at October 1, 2015 FEC Open Meeting on State and Local Ballot Measures and the Ban on Foreign National Contributions, October 1, 2015 (PDF)
• Memorandum of Chair Ann M. Ravel to the Commission on State and Local Ballot Measures and the Ban on Foreign National Contributions (PDF)
• Letter to Commissioners from House Administration Ranking Member Bob Brady urging the FEC to reaffirm the ban on foreign political contributions (PDF)

Rulemaking and litigation

• Proposal to Attack Scam PACs, September 26, 2016 (PDF)
• Statement on Modernizing Commission Rules in Response to Citizens United v. FEC, Mar. 10, 2016 (PDF)
• Statement on REG 2014-09 (Amendment of 11 C.F.R. Part 115), January 11, 2016 (PDF)
• Petition for Rulemaking, June 8, 2015 (PDF | DOC )
• Comment on IRS Guidance for Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organizations on Candidate-Related Political Activites, February 27, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement to Encourage Public Comments to Increase Disclosure and Address Corruption in the Political Process, October 20, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on the Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC Rulemakings, October 9, 2014 (PDF)
• Statement on Rulemaking in Response to McCutcheon v. FEC, October 9, 2014 (PDF)
• View or listen to recorded McCutcheon v. FEC public hearing

Testimony

• Testimony for the hearing before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, April 30, 2014 (PDF)