On August 15, there will be an unprecedented battle in a Multnomah County courtroom over the fate of local campaign finance reform.
In an opinion that could come to shape political races statewide, a judge will decide whether strict contribution limits approved overwhelmingly by county voters last fall are constitutional.
And now, after the deadline to submit arguments to the court last week, we know who’s trying to secure a spot in the courtroom to oppose these reforms, defending unchecked spending on candidates running for county office.
For starters, there’s the Koch brothers.
Amid the standard deep-pocketed business groups worried about losing sway over politicians, the list of opponents to campaign reform includes the Center for Competitive Politics (CCP), a litigious nonprofit funded in part by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch and right-wing dark-money sources like the Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust.
CCP swoops into courts around the country to stamp out laws that cap money in elections—arguing huffily that such limitations are an assault on the First Amendment. And at some point since Multnomah County’s reforms passed in November, the Virginia-based organization reached out to the conservative Taxpayer Association of Oregon (TAO), offering to have CCP lawyers represent the group as an intervening party in the case against Measure 26-184, known as the “Honest Elections Multnomah County Charter Amendment.”
“They gave me a call,” says TAO Executive Director Jason Williams. “And I’m glad they’re around. I hate these laws that try to limit free speech.”