JUNEAU (AP) - The state’s decision to not seek further legal review of a split court ruling that struck down several campaign contribution caps in Alaska has been criticized by a state lawmaker who said the state should have pressed forward with a legal fight.
The case was heard by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has an obligation to defend the laws of the state, said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, of Anchorage.
“He doesn’t get to pick and choose which laws he wants to defend and not defend,” Wielechowski said Aug. 18.
Grace Lee, a state Department of Law spokesperson, said in an email Aug. 17 that the department would not seek further review of the decision by the appeals court panel. Lee said this followed “a thorough evaluation of the law, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and the former and recent 9th Circuit decisions.”
“The legislature can introduce and pass legislation setting a new campaign contribution limit, that does not run afoul of the 9th Circuit decision, when it reconvenes in January,” Dunleavy spokesman Jeff Turner said by email.
A divided federal appeals court panel in late July struck down a $500-a-year limit on what an individual can give a candidate. It also struck down a $500-a-year limit on individual contributions to non-party groups and a $3,000-a-year cap on total nonresident donations a candidate for office like state House can raise.
The case dates to 2015 and was brought against the commission by David Thompson, Aaron Downing and Jim Crawford.
The lawsuit said the plaintiffs at the time would have contributed more if allowed in state and local races to their preferred candidates, who were Republican-aligned.
A federal judge in 2016 sided with the state, and an appeals court panel agreed with the findings, except on the nonresident piece. The U.S. Supreme Court later sent the matter back to the appeals court to reevaluate the $500 caps in light of a prior ruling in a Vermont case.
That led to the July appeals court decision.
Lee said the appeals court panel indicated the $500 campaign contribution limit “would not be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court for multiple reasons, including reasons beyond dispute, such as the lack of an inflation adjustment” in state law.
Lee said it was determined the “resources and risks” to pursue further review by a larger appeals court panel “are too great.”
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