Supreme Court won't block campaign limits before Election Day

Plaintiff claims it’s now Montana’s largest media outlet

——————

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, Oct. 23, said it will not stop Montana’s law limiting campaign contributions from staying in effect through the November general election.

Conservative groups seeking to eliminate the state’s limit on campaign contributions had appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal appellate court ruled on the case on Oct. 16.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay that put a hold on U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell’s Oct. 3 ruling that called the limits unconstitutional. The appeals court also indicated that it thought the state had a strong case in seeking a reversal of Lovell’s ruling.

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

Montana law limits individual contributions to a candidate to $160 for a state House candidate and $630 for a gubernatorial candidate. The law also limits aggregate donations from political parties — a gubernatorial candidate can 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 also fighting Montana election officials to withhold the names of its donors.

Montana Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Bullock hailed the high court’s decision.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling confirms that American Tradition Partnership’s latest ploy had no merit, and is a blow to the moneyed interests that want to sway our elections for their own ends,” Bullock said. “I believe Montana’s elections should belong to the people, not to the corporations hiding behind ATP’s cloak. As Attorney General, my office won’t give up the fight to keep Montana elections clean and fair.”

Bullock is also suing to stop his Republican opponent, former Congressman Rick Hill, from spending campaign contributions Bullock claims are illegal. Bullock claims Hill received a $500,000 contribution from the Montana Republican Party in the six-day period between Lovell’s ruling and the appeals court ruling overturning it.

ATP executive director Donald Ferguson said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision was not a surprise and he’s confident Lovell’s decision will ultimately be upheld.

“This is to be expected with a case on appeal, and it does not change the fact Montana’s contribution limits were ruled to be unconstitutionally low,” he said. “The stay decision does not overturn the original ruling and has no direct bearing on the appeal. The Court did not want to create confusion with just two weeks until Election Day.

Montana’s contribution limits have been ruled unconstitutionally low, Ferguson said.

“Montana’s limits are so low they give a virtual monopoly on political speech to media corporations, which are owned by out-of-state interests,” he said. “Allowing citizens to donate a higher amount gives Montanans a chance to match the amount of speech controlled by newspapers, radio and TV.”

——————

Coinciding with the U.S. Supreme Court announcement, ATP announced Oct. 23 it is now the largest media outlet in Montana. Its new publication, the Montana Statesman, is the “only newspaper with a statewide footprint,” ATP claimed in a press release.

ATP said it will mail the newspaper directly to 120,000 households with 180,000 voters. Several editions will be published through Election Day and throughout 2013 “exposing corruption and official misconduct,” ATP said. Ferguson, who has worked at two newspapers and a public interest law firm, is the publisher and editor-in-chief.

“We are now the most powerful media force in Montana,” he said.

The Montana Statesman is the only Montana media outlet offering cash rewards for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of Montana officials, the press release said.

“I’ve spent my life fighting corruption and powerful politicians, even the President,” Ferguson said. “It’s a bad time to be aligned with the Helena establishment. There is nowhere to run. There is nowhere to hide.”

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, D.C., earlier this year reported that one of ATP’s founding members was former Republican Congressman Ron Marlenee, who represented Montana from 1977 to 1992. The group also reported that ATP’s primary donor is Jacob Jabs, Colorado’s largest furniture retailer. Jabs gave ATP $300,000 when the organization started, the Center said, citing IRS documents.

ATP is also linked with Charles and David Koch, principal owners of energy giant Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest privately owned company in the U.S., the Center reported. The libertarian brothers are credited in some circles with helping start the Tea Party movement last year.