Chris Bragg is reporting at Capitol Confidential the state’s top elections watchdog quietly filed a lawsuit last month that could set a precedent curbing candidates’ ability to accept coordinated donations through the LLC loophole. The civil case pits Risa [REE-sah] Sugarman, the chief enforcement counsel for the state Board of Elections, against the campaign of Shirley Patterson, a candidate who ran unsuccessfully for a Brooklyn state Assembly seat in a May special election. Sugarman’s lawsuit challenges the idea that donations to Patterson’s campaign made through various limited liability companies allegedly controlled by the same person count separately under donations limits. Sugarman’s case does not go after Glenwood Management, the Long Island developer that has used the loophole to pour million into local elections. Glenwood has been the biggest donor to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and other state elected officials. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.