Ctizens United and November 2010 Washington Senate Election
Washington Senate campaign launches a Dash for Cash. With the entrance of Dino Rossi as the Republican candidate into Washington state’s Senate race against incumbent Democratic Senator Patty Murray on May 26, the ground has been set for the ensuing battle which will be influenced on a national level. The Democrats and Republicans both view the Washington Senate campaign as a skirmish where the balance of power may shift away from the Democratic majority in Congress. Both parties have observed that the mood of this year’s electorate is shaped by mounting budget deficits, lackadaisical employment numbers and an administration which is struggling to cobble together a unified strategy to address the Gulf Coast oil debacle. Campaign contributions will also flavor the tone, pace and results of this fall’s elections because of the decision reached by the Supreme Court when its verdict was announced in the Citizens United v. FEC case. In the Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court overruled the ban which prevented corporations from using funds from their general treasury to make independent expenditures and electioneering communications in federal elections.
The Supreme Court determined that a ban based upon the identity of the speaker was impermissible because it sought to restrain political speech without a justifiably compelling interest, particularly when it involved a prohibition directly levied on corporate political speech. After the decision, the Federal Election Commission stated that it would not enforce statutory provisions or its regulations that had prohibited corporations or labor organizations from making independent expenditures and electioneering communications. The Court’s decision and the FEC’s position together mean that corporations and labor organizations are free to pay for political tools essential for candidates reaching and persuading the electorate via media communications. This freedom to pay for communications may prove to be the difference between the electorate choosing Dino Rossi or Patty Murray to represent Washington in the U.S. Senate for the next six years.
In a recent statement, it was declared that the Rossi campaign had raised $600,000 from individual donors in the wake of his entrance into the race on May 26. The figure quoted by the Rossi campaign is dwarfed by the $5.47 million on hand for the Murray campaign as of the last report filed with the FEC at the end of March 2010. Both the Rossi and the Murray campaigns will likely experience a surge in donations from individuals, corporations and labor organizations as the end of the race gets closer, the rhetoric gets deeper, and the price of political ads gets steeper. The price tag for the 2010 election cycle in Washington State just went up and it will likely be influenced by out-of-state donors as the share of in-state donors reaches contribution limits. The voice that interested parties will exercise in the electoral process is directly attributable to the impact that the funding of independent expenditures and electioneering communications have upon a candidate’s cause.
