Republicans have waged a decades-long battle to blow up the campaign-finance laws that rein in big-money spending. Now, they are making a play that could end in their biggest victory since theThe GOP is growing increasingly optimistic about their prospects in a little-noticed lawsuit that would allow official party committees and candidates to coordinate freely by removing current spending restrictions.
“What they’re trying to do is just pry open another barn door to get very large unlimited contributions toward candidates,” said Tom Moore, a former longtime aide to a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Election Commission who now works for the liberal Center for American Progress. “This is money that they don’t have to raise in small-dollar increments from actual voters.”
Though Republicans have brought forward the lawsuit, it would advantage both party committees. The GOP, however, may benefit more at first because its candidates, particularly in the Senate, have struggled to match Democrats’ small-dollar fundraising largesse. A relaxation of coordinated spending laws could allow them access to a party committee’s cash.