By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court revived on Friday a federal policy giving party committees access to discounted TV and radio advertising rates long available to political candidates, as major Republican committees head toward the November midterm elections with a cash advantage over their Democratic counterparts.
The justices granted a request by two Republican committees to block a lower court’s ruling that had effectively prevented them from benefiting from the Federal Communications Commission’s “lowest unit charge” rule while they appeal that decision to the Supreme Court.
The request was made by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee.
President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans are hoping to retain control of the House of Representatives and Senate in the November 3 midterm elections.
The FCC policy requires broadcasters to charge discounted rates for airing certain political advertisements within 60 days of a general election, a window that was set to open this year on September 4. The agency in March published guidance saying that party committees are eligible for the cheaper rates when buying ads coordinated with candidates.
The FCC, which is chaired by Trump ally Brendan Carr, has backed the Republican committees in their bid for cheaper ad rates.
The FCC policy gained greater significance after the Supreme Court in June struck down federal restrictions on spending coordinated between parties and their candidates, siding with Republican challengers.
The three major Republican committees — the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee — ended July with about $279 million in cash. That was more than double the roughly $136 million held by their Democratic counterparts, which also carried nearly $18 million in debt, according to Federal Election Commission filings in August.
Political analysts said Republican committees have sought to seize on their party’s significant war chest and the new legal landscape to help level the playing field in important races where Democratic candidates have outraised their Republican opponents.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a June memo that “lowest unit charge” rates for coordinated ads historically have been three to 13 times cheaper than the rates paid by outside political groups.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee works to get Republican candidates elected to the Senate. The National Republican Congressional Committee strives to get Republican candidates elected to the House.
A group of Democratic candidates including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia sued in June to try to block the lowest unit charge policy from applying to party committees.
The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on August 25 sided with the Democratic challengers, ruling that political parties are not entitled to the low-cost ad rate. That ruling prompted the Republican committees to ask the Supreme Court to halt the 4th Circuit’s ruling before the FCC ad-rate 60-day window was set to open.
In court papers, the Republican committees said they have already budgeted “tens of millions of dollars in ad buys under these rules.” They added, “But because of the 4th Circuit’s decision, broadcast stations are already rescinding those rates.”
In response, the Democratic candidates told the justices that reviving the FCC policy would expose them to “an onslaught of more negative advertising than they would otherwise face, along with a higher level of competition for a limited amount of available television advertising time and an accompanying need to adjust their own campaign strategy accordingly.”
Ossoff was joined in the legal challenge by U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown of Ohio, U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Michigan Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet, who is seeking reelection.
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling in June powered by its conservative majority decided that a cap on the amount of money parties can spend on campaigns with input from candidates violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections against government abridgment of freedom of speech.
It was the latest decision eliminating campaign funding limits in recent decades and marked one of several rulings the court issued during its recently concluded term that favored Republicans.
(Reporting by John Kruzel and Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
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