MADISON, Wis. – Today, former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and Law Forward responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in NRSC v. Federal Election Commission. On behalf of Feingold, Law Forward filed an amicus brief urging the justices not to tear down the federal law prohibiting the transfer of unlimited dollars from political parties to candidate committees and highlighting Wisconsin state-wide electoral races as an object lesson in what happens when this prohibition is lifted.
Today’s decision is the latest in a series of bad decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that has flooded the political system with unprecedented amounts of money, making a mockery of campaign contribution limits and the notion that all voters have an equal voice in our elections.
“Since the 2010 Citizens United decision, the Roberts Court has systematically dismantled the Congressionally approved post-Watergate campaign finance system, giving millionaires and billionaires more ways to buy politicians. At a time when 92 percent of American voters see corruption as a huge problem and back measures to limit self-dealing and big money in politics, the court has handed another win to the rich and powerful and a loss to citizens,” said former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold.
“Today, the Roberts Court has torn down yet another guardrail of the campaign finance system enacted by Congress, allowing unlimited political party transfers to federal candidates. Today’s ruling doesn’t just give political parties a new loophole; it hands the ultra-rich a new mechanism for buying federal elections—one that Wisconsin voters have already seen play out. At a time when corruption is accelerating and public trust in institutions is low, the Roberts Court continues to move in exactly the wrong direction,” said Jeff Mandell, President and General Counsel of Law Forward.
The Feingold brief uses Wisconsin as a case study, detailing how the state’s elimination of limits on contributions to political parties and restrictions on coordinated spending since 2015 has led to a flood of money that effectively renders candidate contribution limits meaningless. Recent Wisconsin gubernatorial and Supreme Court elections have shattered fundraising records, with tens of millions of dollars transferred from state parties to candidate committees. This decision emphasizes the need for fundamental, structural changes to our state and federal campaign finance regulations. The voices of everyday voters, not just the extremely wealthy, must be heard.
