SUPREME COURT RULES FOR ANOTHER FLOOD OF BIG MONEY

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Arizona PIRG Education Fund

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McCutcheon v. FEC to strike down overall, or aggregate, contribution limits to candidates and political committees. Arizona PIRG Education Fund research found that this ruling could bring $1 billion in additional campaign contributions from fewer than 2,800 elite donors through the 2020 election cycle.

“In Citizens United the Supreme Court handed a giant megaphone to the wealthiest interests, and now with their ruling in McCutcheon, they’ve turned up the volume even higher,” said Diane E. Brown, Executive Director of the Arizona PIRG Education Fund.

In the case, Alabama donor Shaun McCutcheon asked the Court to strike down the overall limit on what an individual can give to federal candidates, parties, and PACs in a two-year election cycle. That limit stood at $123,200 – over twice the average household income in the U.S. In 2012, only 1,219 donors came within 10% of hitting the aggregate limit. Research from the Arizona PIRG Education Fund and Demos projects that now that the aggregate limit has been struck down, this same set of 1,219 donors will more triple their gifts to $459.3 million.

The Supreme Court has never before struck down a federal contribution limit, maintaining that these limits are constitutional because they prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption.  

“The Court’s wrong-headed decisions permitting a handful of millionaires and corporate interests to dominate our elections need to be overturned,” concluded Brown.

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