A federal judge Thursday rejected a yearslong lawsuit brought by a group of Republicans challenging the constitutionality of Colorado’s voter-approved limits on campaign contributions.
The case was brought by Republican state Sen. Rod Pelton, former Colorado GOP Chairman Steve House and former Republican Greg Lopez, who is now unaffiliated and running for governor for a third time.
The three argued Colorado’s donation limits are so low they “place a substantial burden on the speech and association rights of those candidates and contributors.”
But Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane found that the limits (see them here) are constitutional.
“Colorado’s contribution limits are closely drawn to the sufficiently important state interest of preventing quid pro quo corruption or its appearance and, therefore, do not violate the political expression and association rights of candidates or contributors that are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Kane wrote in his 142-page ruling.
The case was originally filed in 2022. Colorado’s state campaign contribution limits, approved by voters in 2002, are among the lowest in the country.