Lawsuit challenges $100 contribution limit to school board candidates

By Jack Brammer and Jim Warren – jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The ACLU of Kentucky is backing a challenge to Kentucky’s $100 limit on campaign contributions to school board candidates in U.S. District Court in Frankfort.

The limit violates donors’ right to free speech by restricting their ability to contribute money to their chosen candidate and undermines the democratic process, says the ACLU on behalf of two plaintiffs.

“The strength of our democracy depends on ensuring fairness in the political process,” said ACLU attorney Amy Cubbage in a statement.

“By limiting individual contributions in school board elections to $100, the law effectively prevents candidates from marshaling the necessary resources to mount an effective campaign, particularly in the face of rising costs and special interest expenditures,” Cubbage said.

Ben Foster, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, ran unsuccessfully for Jefferson County school board in 2008. “The $100 limit rendered it impossible for me to raise enough money to compete,” Foster said.

Foster said his opponent received the endorsement of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, which outspent him by a considerable margin.

“I don’t mind losing, but I do mind losing on an uneven playing field, and the inability to raise more than $100 from any single donor ensured that I would not be able to compete in that election,” Foster said.

Cubbage said the other plaintiff is Edward Britton, also of Louisville. She said he wants to contribute more than the $100 limit allows.

The plaintiffs asked the court for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance from enforcing the contribution limit during the current election cycle.

Sarah Jackson, executive director of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, said she could not comment on the suit because she had not seen it.

Cubbage said the suit does not specify what the limit should be on campaign contributions to school board candidates but noted that the limit for other elections is $1,000.

The $100 limit was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1990 as part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, said Brad Hughes, a spokesman for the Kentucky School boards Association.

At the time, there apparently was concern about the fund-raising practices of school board candidates, Hughes said. Today, most school board candidates fund their own campaigns and don’t engage in large-scale fund-raising.

It might be time to change the law, he said.

“What was the case in 1990 is not the case in 2010,” he said. “We think it probably will be our position that it is time that school board candidates should be treated the same way as other political candidates.”

Filed Under: Education • Elections • KY Courts • State Government