Opinion ID: 787590
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Do spending limits at these levels allow for effective advocacy?

Text: 128 We must then turn to the question of whether the spending limits prevent effective advocacy by limiting the ability of candidates to communicate adequately with voters, and the ability of voters to receive the information they need to make a choice on election day. This effective advocacy requirement is drawn from the caselaw on whether contribution limits are sufficiently high. See McConnell, 540 U.S. at ___, 124 S.Ct. at 655-56 (Because the communicative value of large contributions inheres mainly in their ability to facilitate the speech of their recipients, we have said that contribution limits impose serious burdens on free speech only if they are so low as to `preven[t] candidates and political committees from amassing the resources necessary for effective advocacy.') (quoting Buckley, 424 U.S. at 21, 96 S.Ct. 612); Shrink, 528 U.S. at 395-96, 120 S.Ct. 897 (same). Although the concept of effective advocacy originated with regard to the freedom of association rights rooted in the First Amendment, see NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449, 459-60, 78 S.Ct. 1163, 2 L.Ed.2d 1488 (1958), the Supreme Court has also used this concept in assessing candidates' claims that campaign finance regulations place too great a burden on their First Amendment speech rights. In Shrink, for example, one of the plaintiffs was a candidate for statewide office who argued that Missouri's contribution limits prevented him from amassing the resources necessary for effective advocacy. 528 U.S. at 396, 120 S.Ct. 897 (quoting Buckley ). We believe that the use of this effective advocacy standard is appropriate here as a threshold consideration in assessing whether the expenditure limits are narrowly tailored, as the parties have argued. 20 129 Discussing the nature of this effective advocacy analysis in the context of contribution limitations, the Court asked in part whether the limitation was so radical in effect as to drive the sound of a candidate's voice below the level of notice. Shrink, 528 U.S. at 397, 120 S.Ct. 897; see also McConnell, 540 U.S. at ___, 124 S.Ct. at 677. The nature of the effective advocacy requirement, then, is that of a constitutional minimum; as long as the regulation does not drive the sound of a candidate's voice below the level of notice, based on evidence from past campaigns, then the First Amendment is not violated on this ground. 130 Although the District Court never reached the legal issue of narrow tailoring, it did make findings as to whether effective campaigns could be run under the limits. The District Court found that Vermont's expenditure limitations reflect the actual cost of running for office in Vermont, would not cause a revolutionary change in campaign spending, and would leave candidates fully capable of conducting effective campaigns. 118 F.Supp.2d at 472. These conclusions are subject to a mixed standard of review, consistent with Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure but also bearing in mind the obligation in First Amendment cases for appellate courts to make an independent examination of the record as a whole. See Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc., 466 U.S. 485, 499, 104 S.Ct. 1949, 80 L.Ed.2d 502 (1984); Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, 491 U.S. 657, 688, 109 S.Ct. 2678, 105 L.Ed.2d 562 (1989); Ezekwo v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corp., 940 F.2d 775, 780 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1013, 112 S.Ct. 657, 116 L.Ed.2d 749 (1991). 131 Based on the data presented at trial through expert witnesses, the District Court found that the average spending in Vermont House district races during the three election cycles preceding the District Court's opinion was almost uniformly below the limits set pursuant to Act 64. 118 F.Supp.2d at 471. Similarly, multi-member Senate districts all involved average spending below that permitted pursuant to Act 64, with average spending exceeding the Act's expenditure limits only in single-member Senate districts. Id. In addition to reflecting the actual expenditures in Vermont elections, the District Court found that Act 64's expenditure limits are also appropriate given the costs of running for office in Vermont. The District Court credited the testimony of a number of fact witnesses who testified to the details of previous campaigns they had run, including a Senate challenger in Chittenden County and a former Senate candidate in Rutland County, confirm[ing] that fully effective campaigns for the Vermont Senate can be run under the limits established by Act 64. Id. at 472. The court noted that Vermont candidates for legislative office frequently use low-cost campaigning methods, such as community debates, door-to-door campaigning, town barbecues and suppers, advertising placards and the issuance of press releases. Id. Legislative candidates rarely hire campaign staff or purchase expensive mass media. Id. Indeed, the evidence at trial indicated that most Vermont House and Senate candidates do not use television advertising primarily because the lack of congruence between media markets and district boundaries render such advertising an inefficient and ineffective way to communicate with voters. (Ex. AA, Landell Admission # 49; Ex. BB, Randall Admission # 84, # 85; testimony of Neil Randall; testimony of Toby Young; Ex. U-1, Expert Report of Anthony Gierzynski, at 8.) Nonetheless, candidates are able to spend the money needed to ensure that their voice is well above the level of notice necessary for effective advocacy. Shrink, 528 U.S. at 397, 120 S.Ct. 897. 132 Although candidates for statewide office utilize more expensive media and techniques, they are permitted to spend larger amounts and can thus also engage in effective advocacy. In part, this reflects the particular qualities of Vermont, especially the relatively inexpensive cost of television advertising in the State. 118 F.Supp.2d at 472. In reaching this conclusion, the District Court rejected testimony of plaintiffs' witnesses that much larger amounts of money—amounts so large that no Vermont candidate has ever spent them—are required to wage an effective campaign for governor or other statewide offices. See id. (The Court rejects [the witness's] testimony that it is necessary to spend between $800,000 and $1 million to run an effective campaign for Governor of Vermont ... Nor does the Court accept that candidates must spend approximately $500,000 in order to run effective campaigns for Lieutenant Governor and the other lower statewide offices of Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, and Attorney General.). 133 And though conflicting evidence was presented at trial, there was ample evidence aside from the specific statistics and campaigns cited in the District Court opinion to support the District Court's effective campaign findings. For example, plaintiffs' evidence emphasized what they described as the problems under the limits for candidates running for Senate in Chittenden County, a county that includes the city of Burlington, as well as very rural areas. But defendants presented evidence that the average spending in this district was consistently far less than the $16,500 allowed under Act 64. More specifically, defendants presented evidence that in 1994, all six of the victorious candidates in Chittenden County spent at or near the Act 64 spending limits, including two successful challengers. In 1996, all six winners spent at or below the limits, including three successful challengers. And in 1998, three of the six candidates spent below the limits. As to statewide races, one candidate for State Auditor in 2000, Elizabeth Ready, indicated that under the $45,000 limit for her race, she had been able to purchase newspaper and radio ads, and considered using television advertising later in the race. 134 Plaintiffs may not simply rely on the highest-spending races in order to declare the entire statute unconstitutional on its face. In Shrink, the Supreme Court went as far as to assume the truth of plaintiff's claim that the contribution limits affected his ability to wage a competitive campaign, and concluded that nonetheless, a showing of one affected individual does not point up a system of suppressed political advocacy that would be unconstitutional under Buckley.  528 U.S. at 396, 120 S.Ct. 897. Indeed, certain plaintiffs have a particularly difficult time arguing that the spending limits will burden their First Amendment rights. Plaintiff Donald Brunelle's maximum expenditure in any of his past House campaigns was $1,007, and plaintiff George Kuusela has never spent more than $1,550. The new limits allow each of them, as challengers, to spend $3,000 in their House campaigns, significantly more than they have spent in the past. 135 In Shrink, the Supreme Court relied on and quoted the District Court's conclusions, made on cross-motions for summary judgment, that candidates for state elected office [have been] quite able to raise funds sufficient to run effective campaigns, and that candidates for political office in the State are still able to amass impressive campaign war chests. 528 U.S. at 396, 120 S.Ct. 897 (citations omitted). Like the Shrink Court, we affirm the District Court's conclusion, here made after a 10-day bench trial, that candidates can meet the threshold level of effective advocacy when running for office in the State of Vermont. 118 F.Supp.2d at 471-72. After independent review, we agree with the District Court that these expenditure limits are not so radical in effect as to drive the sound of a candidate's voice below the level of notice, Shrink, 528 U.S. at 397, 120 S.Ct. 897, and therefore the limits do not prevent candidates from amassing the resources necessary for effective advocacy. Buckley, 424 U.S. at 21, 96 S.Ct. 612. However, as we address in the next section, the inquiry into how much the spending limits impinge First Amendment rights is broader than it was in the Shrink contribution limits context, and therefore must go beyond merely effective advocacy. 136