Steven T. Walther retires from the Commission

WASHINGTON – Vice Chair Steven T. Walther has retired from the Commission after 16 years of service. Vice Chair Walther’s FEC legacy includes a dedication to improving due process and procedural fairness, a commitment to increasing public disclosure and transparency concerning agency actions, and a devotion to promoting democratic institutions worldwide.

Vice Chair Walther was first sworn in as a Commissioner on January 10, 2006, as a recess appointee. On June 24, 2008, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on June 27, 2008 to resume the balance of his statutory term. He served as Vice Chair for the balance of 2008, in the second half of 2020, and again for the first seven months of 2022. He served as Chair of the Commission in 2009 and in 2017.

Vice Chair Walther is a former president of the State Bar of Nevada, the Western States Bar Conference, and the National Caucus of State Bar Associations, and he chaired the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. He has been active in initiatives focusing on international relations, human rights and the rule of law, and was the first chair of the ABA Center for Human Rights. From 1971 until his FEC appointment, Mr. Walther served as a member of the Nevada State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

In 1972, Vice Chair Walther co-founded the Reno, Nevada law firm of Walther & Key, where he practiced law with an emphasis on litigation and continued as a senior partner until his appointment to the Commission. Vice Chair Walther received his undergraduate degree, with a major in Russian, from the University of Notre Dame in 1965 and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1968.

“We will lose a unique and valuable voice when Steven T. Walther departs the Federal Election Commission,” said Chairman Allen Dickerson. “For over a decade and a half, the American people have been well served by his independent viewpoint and deep practical experience.”

“Steve Walther has been a lifelong advocate for fair and transparent enforcement of the law and for national and international democratic norms, human rights, and the rule of law. Most of all, he has been a valued colleague and friend, and he will be missed,” said Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub.

Vice Chair Walther announced in January that he would depart the Commission this year. He will be succeeded by Dara Lindenbaum.