The modern system to raise money for presidential and congressional campaigns is about to turn 50. An early skeptic, the late Sen. James L. Buckley was the namesake for litigation challenging it, with critics today still citing his arguments.
He was the lead challenger to the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act. Amendments to the law enacted in 1974, in response to Nixon-era fundraising shenanigans exposed by Watergate investigations, expanded public financing for presidential races. The updated law also set limits on contributions by people, political parties, and political action committees. All are overseen and regulated by the Federal Election Commission, which was created in 1974.
The Supreme Court in 1976 issued a split decision. Justices upheld public financing of presidential elections but struck down limits on independent expenditures, candidate self-financing, and overall spending. However, it did allow individual spending contributions to stay in place. Indexed for inflation, those are now $3,300 each for primary and general elections.Buckley is one of a small group to hold positions in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.
Buckley held another distinction as one of a handful of third-party Senate victors, the first independent elected to the Senate since Robert M. La Follette Jr. of Wisconsin won as a member of the Progressive Party in 1934.
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