Report: Outside cash flowing to Maine campaigns
Most of Maine’s political campaign messages and advertising in 2010 and 2012 came from groups not directly linked to a specific candidate, according to a report by Maine Citizens for Clean Elections.
The group behind Maine’s publicly funded campaign system tied the surge in non-candidate spending, or independent expenditures, to the U.S. Supreme Court’s split decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that found restrictions on independent expenditures an unconstitutional limit on speech. The clean elections group and others have criticized that decision as increasing money’s influence on politics.
The report found that outside spending in Maine’s 2010 gubernatorial election hit $4 million after outside groups spent only $600,000 in 2006 and $400,000 in 2002. The 2010 gubernatorial race was the first since the Citizens United decision. For legislative races, the report found outside spending increased 574% from 2008 to 2012, rising to $3.6 million from $1.5 million in 2010 and $600,000 in 2008.
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