Campaign Finance Suit in San Diego

It's only a month ago that a federal court in California rejected a PAC's attempt to prevent the Los Angeles ethics commission from enforcing contribution limits in the city's ethics laws. And yet, according to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, this week the Republican Party of San Diego County, a former City Council candidate, a pro-business group, a union PAC, and a pollster have sued "to allow campaign contributions from individual donors to exceed the $500 limit imposed by city law and lift a prohibition on political groups donating to city campaigns, among other things."

Besides the L.A. suit, the timing is interesting, because the contribution limit was raised substantially just this year. In addition, it was only four years ago that the pro-business group sued San Diego over its then-$250 limit on individual contributions for independent expenditures. The ruling was that the city’s contribution limits did not prevent the group from effectively advocating for a candidate.

In light of these two court decisions, the suit seems to be more promotion and harassment than an attempt to change the law. Would the plaintiffs prefer a public campaign financing program in San Diego?

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research, City Ethics
rwechsler@cityethics.org
203-230-2548