By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Capitol Times
After a 2½-hour hearing Tuesday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has two days to decide whether he’ll let new campaign contribution limits go into effect, potentially transforming Arizona politics in a major way.
Attorneys for the Citizens Clean Elections Commission urged Judge Mark Brain to enjoin HB2593, which dramatically increases contribution limits. Brain picked apart arguments from both sides during the hearing.
If he allows HB2593 to stand, candidates for state-level offices can start collecting contributions of up to $4,000 on Friday. Under the old law, individuals can contribute a maximum of $912 to statewide candidates and $440 to legislative candidates.
The commission’s attorneys argued the law violates the Voter Protection Act and Citizens Clean Elections Act, which indirectly governs contribution limits by automatically reducing them by 20 percent. Attorneys for legislative leaders, Secretary of State Ken Bennett and the conservative Goldwater Institute disagreed, arguing that the actual statutes that set Arizona’s contribution limits weren’t part of the Clean Elections Act and therefore aren’t voter-protected.
