The Supreme Court struck down a key component of campaign finance reform on Thursday, the so-called “Millionaire’s Amendment.”
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled the amendment violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Under the Millionaire’s Amendment, candidates were allowed to receive larger contributions from donors when wealthy opponents dipped into their personal fortunes.
So who does this help? Extremely wealthy candidates, who disproportionately are Republicans, of course:
Rep. Charles Boustany (LA-07 vs. Don Cravins, Jr.)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL-13 vs. Christine Jennings)
Rep. Robin Hayes (NC-08 vs. Larry Kissell)Lou Barletta (PA-11 vs. Paul Kanjorski)
Susan Bitter-Smith and Dave Schweikert (AZ-05 vs. Rep. Harry Mitchell)
Jeb Bradley (NH-01 vs. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter)
Bill Dew (UT-02 vs. Jim Matheson)
Sen. Elizabeth Dole (NC-Sen vs. Kay Hagan)
Mike Erickson (OR-05 vs. Kurt Schrader)
Keith Fimian (VA-11 vs. Gerry Connelly)
Chris Gorman (if he wins LA-04 primary vs. Paul Carmouche)
Steve Greenberg (IL-08 vs. Melissa Bean)
Chris Hackett (PA-10 vs. Chris Carney)
Richard Hanna (NY-24 vs. Mike Arcuri)
Chris Lee (NY-26 vs. Dem candidate)
Jay Love (AL-02 vs. Bobby Bright)
Marty Ozinga (IL-11 vs. Debbie Halvorson)
Steve Pearce (NM-Sen vs. Steve Pearce)
Jim Risch (ID-Sen vs. Larry LaRocco)
Tom Rooney and Hal Valeche (FL-16 primary vs. Rep. Tim Mahoney)
Sen. Gordon Smith (OR-Sen vs. Jeff Merkley)
Mike Sodrel (IN-09 vs. Rep. Baron Hill)
Sandy Treadwell (NY-20 vs. Kirsten Gillibrand)
Dems helped by this decision: Jack Davis (NY-26), Bruce Lunsford (KY-Sen), Walt Minnick (ID-01), Michael Skelly (TX-07), Jared Polis (CO-02), Rep. Steve Kagen (WI-08), Parker Griffith (AL-05), and maybe Sen. Frank Lautenberg (NJ-Sen)