Appeals court ruling keeps campaign limits this year

Campaign contribution limits in Montana for individuals and political parties will remain in effect for this year’s general election.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 16 issued a stay that put a hold on U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell’s ruling that called the limits unconstitutional. The appeals court also indicated that it thinks the state has a strong case as it seeks a reversal of Lovell’s ruling.

In a short Oct. 3 ruling, Lovell said the state’s contribution limits “prevent candidates from ‘amassing the resources necessary for effective campaign advocacy,’” quoting from the plaintiffs.

Seven days later, he issued a 38-page that backed up his earlier ruling. He also suggested that the Montana Legislature would have a “clean canvas” to work with in fashioning new and higher spending limits that would be constitutional.

Montana law had limited individual contributions to a candidate to $160 for a state House candidate and $630 for a gubernatorial candidate. The laws had also limited aggregate donations from political parties. A gubernatorial candidate could not accept more than $22,600 from all political party committees.

Plaintiffs in the case included Doug Lair of American Tradition Partnership, formerly Western Tradition Partnership, a conservative group now based in Washington, D.C., that is fighting Montana election officials to withhold the names of its donors.

Other plaintiffs included Montana Right To Life, Sweet Grass Council for Community Integrity, Lake County Republican Central Committee, Beaverhead County Republican Central Committee, Jake Oil LLC, Champion Painting Inc. and three individuals, including Steve Dogiakos and John Milanovich.

Lovell, who was appointed by President Reagan, has already issued a number of rulings on campaign regulation in light of the landmark 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United. Lovell ruled that Montana cannot ban corporations from contributing to political committees that make independent expenditures, and that state laws requiring attack ads disclose voting records and banning knowingly false statements in attack ads are unconstitutional.

Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock, who is also the Democratic candidate for Montana governor this year, praised the appeals court’s order.

“That is an important victory for all Montanans, regardless of party affiliation,” he said. “Montanans put a high value on the integrity and fairness of our election system, and the court has allowed us to maintain our citizen democracy, rather than putting our elections up for auction to the highest bidder.”