Parties spar over Supreme Court campaign spending decision

LYNN – Local Republicans and Democrats say their opponents will benefit from a Supreme Court ruling loosening purse strings for big political campaign donors.?The very rich tend to be very Republican. That will have an impact on John Tierney and it doesn?t bode well for people in the city of Lynn,” said longtime Democrat activist James Smith of Lynn.But Republican congressional candidate Richard Tisei thinks campaign spending changes approved earlier this month favor incumbents, including Tierney, who is running for reelection in the 6th Congressional District.?Most of the entrenched financial interests in Massachusetts are on the Democratic side,” Tisei said.The Supreme Court ruling removes the limit under federal law on how much money campaign contributors can give to congressional candidates and political committees over a two-year period. The ruling kept in place a $2,600 individual contribution limit.The court?s 5-4 vote overturned a 2012 U.S. District Court decision ruling against a challenge to campaign law.With the 2014 elections still half a year away, congressional candidates seeking to represent voters in communities stretching from Saugus to Amesbury are raising and spending money.A snapshot of 6th District campaign money-raising activity focused on 2013 shows Tierney?s campaign had $709,000 “cash on hand” and Tisei?s had $394,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings.Democrat Seth Moulton?s campaign listed $394,000 “cash on hand” at the end of 2013 in his FEC filing and Democrat Marisa DeFranco listed $34,000 in her filing. Their filings cover the last five months of 2013.Moulton called the high court ruling “a step backwards” and pointed out in a campaign statement that 6th District voters are the main donors to his campaign.?It?s definitely not a step in the right direction,” he said.Tierney, in a statement, warned the Supreme Court decision “creates a slippery slope that could lead to limitless amounts of money being injected into our political system.”?The Supreme Court dealt another detrimental blow to the campaign finance system with the McCutcheon versus FEC decision,” Tierney stated.Tisei said relatively few campaign donors are in a position to boost their candidate contributions above the two-year ceiling, which was set at $123,200 for 2013 and 2014.?I don?t see it having any impact on this race at all,” he said.The court ruling grew out of a push by Alabama resident Shaun McCutcheon to contribute money to campaigns above the limit imposed by the FEC on contributions spanning a two-year period.Chief Justice John Roberts summed up the court majority decision overturning the limit by concluding that contribution restrictions “…intrude without justification” on the rights of Americans “…to choose who shall govern them.”But Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that campaign limits are “strongly rooted in the need to assure political integrity?” and warned that the court majority ruling “…undermines, perhaps devastates, what remains of campaign finance reform.”Smith, an attorney and former legislator, said the court split along party lines to craft its decision and said the ruling “has very large ramifications nationally and in our own backyard.”But former Republican candidate for congress William Hudak disagreed and said stripping away the donation limit will have minimal impact on the 6th District race. But Hudak thinks former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown?s bid to return to office could draw money from Massachusetts contributors who think Brown can help assure a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.