Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-12_m6hn.pdf
Page Number: 21.0

16  FEDERAL ELECTION COMM’N v. TED CRUZ FOR SENATE 

Opinion of the Court 

States  that  did  not  impose  aggregate  limits  on  individual
contributions).

The Government instead puts forward a handful of media
reports  and  anecdotes  that  it  says  illustrate  the  special
risks  associated  with  repaying  candidate  loans  after  an
election.  But  as  the  District  Court  found,  those  reports 
“merely hypothesize that individuals who contribute after
the  election  to  help  retire  a  candidate’s  debt  might  have 
greater  influence  with  or  access  to  the  candidate.”    542 
F. Supp. 3d, at 15.  That is not the type of quid pro quo cor-
ruption  the  Government  may  target  consistent  with  the 
First Amendment.  See McCutcheon, 572 U. S., at 207–208. 
The dissent at points shrugs off this distinction, see post,
at 2, 12, n. 3, 13, but our cases make clear that “the Gov-
ernment may not seek to limit the appearance of mere in-
fluence or access.”  McCutcheon, 572 U. S., at 208.  As we 
have explained, influence and access “embody a central fea-
ture  of  democracy—that  constituents  support  candidates 
who share their beliefs and interests, and candidates who 
are elected can be expected to be responsive to those con-
cerns.”  Id., at 192. 

To be sure, the “line between quid pro quo corruption and
general influence may seem vague at times, but the distinc-
tion  must  be  respected  in  order  to  safeguard  basic  First
Amendment rights.”  Id., at 209.  And in drawing that line,
“the First Amendment requires us to err on the side of pro-
tecting political speech rather than suppressing it.”  Ibid. 
(quoting Wisconsin Right to Life, 551 U. S., at 457 (opinion 
of ROBERTS, C. J.)). 

2 
In the absence of direct evidence, the Government turns 
elsewhere.  It contends that a scholarly article, a poll, and 
statements by Members of Congress show that these con-
tributions  carry  a  heightened  risk  of  at  least  the  appear-