A version of this article was originally published in The Daily Brief, our Maine politics newsletter. Sign up here for daily news and insight from politics editor Michael Shepherd.
A conservative legislator’s lawsuit against the state over a new campaign finance law flew under the radar last week, but it could have implications for the balance of power between leaders and their most ambitious rank-and-file members.
A 2021 law that took effect this year made several changes to the campaign finance regime around legislative races. One of the biggest changes was that it targeted political committees run by individual legislators, barring those so-called “leadership PACs” and candidates themselves from accepting larger contributions and those from businesses and labor groups.
The context: The idea behind the bill, which was passed largely along party lines and backed by a number of progressive groups, was to reduce the perceived influence of corporate money on individuals. But other committees can still take money from businesses and unlimited contributions. That includes caucuses run by legislative leaders that wield the most influence over elections by coordinating both fundraising and outside spending.
Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, the leader of the lawsuit filed last week in federal court, helps run The Dinner Table, a political committee that outperformed House Republicans in fundraising for much of the 2022 election cycle, prompting a squabble between the Libby-led group and party leaders.
Libby went on to mount an unsuccessful bid for House minority leader, losing to Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor. She criticized him early in his tenure, though he has generally held a majority of his caucus on major issues so far this year. Libby is now considering a run against Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, in next year’s election.
What’s next: All of this history makes Libby a logical person to run point on this lawsuit, which cites free-speech grounds in challenging the law that has given what she calls “unequal treatment” to certain lawmakers.
“It tilts the political system in favor of entrenched party leadership and other interests, who can continue to raise and spend unlimited funds from unlimited sources in their PACs, and against legislators who may pursue competing political visions, whose PAC functions these limits constrain,” the lawsuit reads.
It is the first legal test for the new Maine law, but the potential impact and the personalities at play will make it an important one to watch for those invested in the power structure of state politics.