Cruz challenged a section of election law that says campaigns cannot pay back more than $250,000 in personal loans through post-election donations. Cruz put $260,000 of his own money into his 2018 reelection campaign and sued the FEC in April 2019 as he attempted to pay off his debt.
In a 31-page ruling, a three-judge panel ruled that the repayment cap, instituted in the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, violated Cruz’s free speech rights. …
Advocates of stricter campaign finance laws panned the ruling Thursday, arguing it would hurt transparency and allow wealthy donors to have more influence with lawmakers.
“With this limit struck down, officeholders can raise money after an election and that money effectively goes straight into their pockets in the form of a loan repayment,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy & litigation at Common Cause. “This is the most potentially corrupting money in all of politics.”