Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and the nonpartisan law firm Law Forward are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold federal campaign finance limits in a new amicus brief, warning that deregulation could lead to the kind of unprecedented, high-dollar elections seen in Wisconsin.
The brief, filed today in the case of National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) v. Federal Election Commission (FEC), argues against a challenge that seeks to strike down federal limits on coordinated contributions from political parties to candidates.
The case was initiated in 2022 by the NRSC and two Republican candidates, including then-Senator J.D. Vance, who argue for eliminating these limits, a move rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
READ :Parental Rights Group Urges Supreme Court Intervention In Florida School Gender Identity Dispute
Challenge Seen as Latest Step to Deregulation
Feingold, a Democrat who co-sponsored the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold), contends that this legal challenge is part of a decades-long effort to dismantle campaign finance laws designed to protect against corruption and preserve democratic representation.
“We don’t have to guess what will happen if additional campaign finance rules are torn up, we’ve already witnessed it in Wisconsin,” said Feingold.
He argues that the erosion of regulations allows wealthy donors to have an “outsized voice”, which diminishes public faith and voter participation in the political process.
Wisconsin as a Case Study in Deregulation’s Impact
The brief specifically highlights Wisconsin‘s campaign finance system since 2015 as a “cautionary tale.” Since the state eliminated limits on individual contributions to political parties and coordinated spending restrictions, the brief argues, a “flood of money” has effectively made candidate contribution limits meaningless.
The filing points to the state’s recent judicial and gubernatorial elections as evidence of this trend:
- The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race broke national records, with over $100 million spent in total.
- This figure eclipsed the approximately $51 million spent in the state’s 2023 Supreme Court race and the $10 million spent in the 2020 race.
- In the 2022 gubernatorial election, 42 individual donors maxed out their contributions to Tony Evers’s campaign (totaling $840,000) and gave more than $23 million combined to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which then transferred over $18 million to the Evers campaign.
- The brief notes that extraordinarily wealthy individuals, including Elon Musk, have exploited the state’s system by injecting massive sums into judicial and other races through contributions to political parties and outside groups.
“Wisconsin’s experience shows exactly what happens when we eliminate these crucial guardrails,” said Rachel Snyder, an attorney for Law Forward, emphasizing that the issue is about preserving a democracy where “average citizens’ voices aren’t drowned out by billionaires’ checkbooks.”
Warning on Future Targeting of Limits
The brief warns the Supreme Court against accepting the petitioners’ argument that existing limits on contributions to political parties are sufficient to prevent corruption. Feingold suggests that if the coordinated spending limits are struck down, those remaining party contribution limits will likely be the next target for elimination.
READ :Supreme Court Declines Ghislaine Maxwell’s Appeal Citing Plea Agreement Immunity
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in NRSC v. FEC during its 2025-2026 term.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox
