A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that a conservative group supporting Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican nominee for mayor of New York City, can immediately begin accepting contributions of any size because New York State’s limit on donations to independent political committees is probably unconstitutional.
The ruling, 12 days before the mayoral election, is not likely to change the dynamics of the race, given the wide lead of the Democratic candidate, Bill de Blasio, and a presumed reluctance by many potential big donors to donate to an underdog candidate this late in the game.
But an end to limits on contributions to independent political groups could have a much bigger impact next year, when voters will decide whether to re-elect Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, and will determine which party controls the State Senate — a long-running battle in which independent spending could make a significant difference.
“This could usher in an era where super PACs call the shots in campaigns all over the state, not just in the city,” said David Donnelly, the executive director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, which advocates public financing of elections.
Mr. Donnelly called the lawsuit challenging the limit on contributions to independent committees “part of a concerted effort around the country to shred any campaign finance laws that are still left.” Similar laws have been struck down in other states, after the Supreme Court’s landmark campaign finance decision in the Citizens United case.
State law currently limits individual contributions to independent-expenditure committees to $ 150,000 per year. The group that challenged that limit said that it wanted to help elect conservative candidates locally, and was trying to protect its First Amendment rights. The group, New York Progress and Protection PAC, said that an Alabama businessman, Shaun McCutcheon, had pledged to contribute at least $ 200,000 to the group, and that other donors were likely to make similar donations.
“Even though time is quite short, they’ll make as vigorous an effort as possible in the remaining time to raise and spend money for speech in support of Lhota,” said Michael A. Carvin, a lawyer for New York Progress and Protection PAC.
Mr. McCutcheon, who is also at the heart of a Supreme Court case challenging caps on individuals’ overall contributions to candidates and parties, does not appear to have given money to candidates in New York over the last decade, according to campaign finance records. But, in a statement issued on Thursday, he said, “I am very pleased that another court has decided to rule in favor of free speech.”
New York’s campaign fund-raising laws are already much less restrictive than in many other states. State-level contribution limits are unusually high, loopholes are ample and regulations are rarely enforced. Government watchdogs have fought for years to change the rules, but lawmakers in Albany have shown little interest.
Wealthy individuals seeking to donate large sums to New York politicians also already have several techniques for sidestepping contribution limits. For example, Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York City, has given millions of dollars to Republicans in the State Senate by directing his contributions to a so-called party housekeeping account, which can accept unlimited donations. And Leonard Litwin, a real estate developer, has legally given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mr. Cuomo by funneling the contributions through limited liability companies.
“At the state level, it’s tough to imagine making things worse,” said Bill Mahoney, an expert on campaign fund-raising at the New York Public Interest Research Group.
In New York City, an independent political committee has already played a key role in this year’s mayoral campaign, giving Mr. de Blasio an advantage by financing a series of ads sharply critical of the Democratic primary race’s onetime front-runner, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who then lost. There are now at least two independent committees — including the New York Progress and Protection PAC — supporting Mr. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and at least three backing Mr. de Blasio, the city’s public advocate.
Mr. de Blasio has generally had a financial advantage over Mr. Lhota. From Sept. 17 to 30, the last period for which campaign fund-raising data was available, Mr. de Blasio collected about $ 650,000, while Mr. Lhota raised about $ 280,000. On Monday, Mr. de Blasio held a particularly pricey fund-raiser, headlined by Hillary Rodham Clinton, at which donors who promised to raise at least $ 25,000 were invited to a private reception.
Yahoo Local News – New York Times
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=16337
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
No comments:
Post a Comment