Supreme Court Requires Broadcasters to Offer Parties Lowest Election Ad Rates
The US Supreme Court has issued an order that effectively forces television stations to offer their lowest advertising rates to political parties and joint fundraising committees, not just individual candidates. The ruling reverses a lower court’s decision and may significantly affect campaign spending ahead of the midterm elections.
Supreme Court grants stay in campaign ad discount fight
The US Supreme Court on Friday issued an order that effectively requires broadcast television stations to offer their lowest advertising rates to political parties and joint fundraising committees, not only to individual candidates. The unsigned ruling came in response to an emergency petition from the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Under US law, any licensed broadcaster that runs election ads must charge a legally qualified candidate the “lowest unit charge” for airtime. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had directed stations to give the same discount to parties and joint fundraising committees, which are not subject to the same contribution limits as campaigns. Four Democratic candidates challenged that interpretation, and the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with them, ruling that the plain text of the law restricts the discount to candidates themselves.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of that dispute. Instead, it said the appeals court lacked jurisdiction because the FCC had not issued a final decision on the candidates’ pending request for review. The court found that the Republican committees would likely suffer irreparable harm without a stay, as higher ad prices would hamper their efforts to reach voters in the critical weeks before the midterm elections and would burden their First Amendment rights to speak and coordinate political activity.
The order adds to a June decision in which the Supreme Court struck down federal limits on coordinated spending between parties and candidates. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the commission’s only Democrat, said the combined rulings “open the door to a flood of dark money,” allowing a small group of wealthy donors to pool unlimited contributions while financially struggling broadcasters absorb the cost.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissent, citing the argument that an agency cannot defeat judicial review through delay. The Democratic challengers in the case are Sherrod Brown, Jon Ossoff, Roy Cooper and Kristen McDonald Rivet. The Justice Department and the FCC backed the Republican committees, while the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog founded by former FEC chairman Trevor Potter, argued in an amicus brief that the FCC’s interpretation has no limiting principle and could expand the discount to an ever-growing number of groups.
