Latest filing in campaign finance court battle argues Maine has legal right to regulate super PACs

The next piece of the puzzle for the group hoping to get the U.S. Supreme Court to establish greater regulations on money in elections was laid on Wednesday.

One of two expected appeals were filed in the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston after a federal district court in July ruled that a 2024 Maine law overwhelmingly passed by voters was unconstitutional. The law placed limits on contributions to political action committees that independently spend money to try to support or defeat candidates, commonly referred to as super PACs.

The brief filed early evening Wednesday is from the committee behind the referendum, Republican-turned-independent state Sen. Rick Bennett and the nonprofit Equal Citizens, spearheaded by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig who has been attempting to bring this issue to the high court for years. Another is due from Attorney General Aaron Frey on behalf of the state of Maine by midnight.

While Frey’s arguments are not yet known, those behind the referendum make the case in their brief that the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission actually allows for super PACs to be regulated and that a later decision that interpreted otherwise — and permitted unlimited spending by corporations — had misinterpreted the landmark ruling.



https://mainemorningstar.com/2025/10/22/latest-filings-in-campaign-finance-court-battle-argue-maine-has-legal-right-to-regulate-super-pacs/