State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

One State’s Crusade to Limit Campaign Contributions Could Have Nationwide Repercussions

Governing: Montana has spent more than a hundred years trying to keep a lid on campaign contributions. It is still trying.

Back around the dawn of the 20th century, the Anaconda Copper Co. and a cabal of “copper kings” ruled the roost in the Treasure State. One of their number, William A. Clark, actually bought himself a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1899; that body initially refused to seat him due to qualms about the bribery scheme. Clark’s plot and others led Montana citizens in 1912 to approve a corrupt practices act, barring all corporate spending in state elections. That law lasted until 2011, when it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that it interfered with free speech.

But Montana still had in place limits on the size of campaign contributions that could be given to candidates. The limits were imposed by voters in 1994. Five years ago, U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell found that those limits too were an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, because they didn’t allow candidates sufficient resources to run their campaigns. His decision was rejected by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which sent the case back down for him to reexamine.

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