NEW LOGO
PRESS RELEASE
March 15, 2012
Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook View our profile on LinkedIn 
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jerad Najvar: 281.404.4696

Dan Backer: 202.210.5431

Stephen M. Hoersting 937.623.6102

Federal Election Commission Asked to Allow Americans to Contribute to Candidates of Their Choosing 

Washington D.C.,-Yesterday the Federal Election Commission (FEC) made public an Advisory Opinion Request that seeks to lift the $46,200 aggregate limit on individual contributions to all Federal candidates.  Filed on behalf of Alabama resident Mr. Shaun McCutcheon, the request seeks to allow him to contribute $1,776 to twenty-five federal candidates, almost all challengers, along with a few other 2012 contributions.  McCutcheon's contributions would exceed the $46,200 limit on what an individual may contribute to all Federal candidates, the so-called biennial aggregate limit, even though contributions to any single candidate are capped at $2,500.

 

Attorneys Jerad Najvar, of Najvar Law Firm in Houston, Texas, and Stephen M. Hoersting and Dan Backer, both of the law firm DB Capitol Strategies PLLC in Washington D.C., filed the request on McCutcheon's behalf. 

 

"The aggregate limit on all contributions to candidates, unlike a limit on individual contributions to candidates, does nothing to prevent quid pro quo corruption or its appearance," said Steve Hoersting, "which the Court has held is the only government interest strong enough to squelch speech."

 

"The aggregate limit on contributions to candidates rests on a government interest contrary to Buckley and thoroughly rejected in Citizens United:  The anti-distortion interest," said Dan Backer.  "Discriminating against speakers based on their identity is fundamentally wrong, and allowing this aggregate limit on contributions to stand violates the associational and speech rights of individuals," Backer added.

 

McCutcheon's attorneys believe the FEC can strike this limit by looking to settled case law.  The Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo only upheld an aggregate limit on all contributions because it included those to political parties and PACs on the grounds that doing so prevented contributors from using PACs and party committees as mere pass-throughs to send money to desired candidates, circumventing contribution limits. However, earmarking is already illegal, and Buckley's narrow rationale does not apply.

 

"If the government still wants to enforce the aggregate limit on candidate contributions, they have to explain how any particular candidate could possibly be corrupted because somebody gave a series of modest, otherwise permissible contributions to other federal candidates," said attorney Jerad Najvar.  "The fact is that this provision is not directed at corruption, and therefore it cannot overcome Mr. McCutcheon's recognized First Amendment rights to political speech and association." Najvar explained.

 

The Commission is expected to answer Mr. McCutcheon's request within sixty days.  The advisory opinion request is available here (http://www.fec.gov/fosers/docs.shtml?docNumber=1205092.pdf).

About DB Capitol Strategies PLLC (www.DBCapitolStrategies.com): DB Capitol Strategies is a cutting edge campaign finance & political compliance law firm in Washington DC.  The firm includes Dan Backer, lead counsel on Carey v FEC (which created Carey Accounts and Hybrid PACs), and Steve Hoersting, co-counsel on SpeechNow.org v FEC (which created SuperPACs) and Carey, as well as a past General Counsel of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and co-founder of the Center for Competitive Politics.

 

About the Najvar Firm (www.Najvarlaw.com):  Najvar Law Firm is an appellate and political law firm based in Houston, Texas. Jerad Najvar advises clients involved in politics at the local, state, and federal level with regard to campaign finance, ethics, and other legal matters. He has experience in litigation before the Texas Ethics Commission, in federal and state district courts, and in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

# # #