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Minneapolis Star TribuneCorporations sue to allow campaign contributions
Not content with running their own ads supporting candidates, businesses want judicial approval to contribute directly to campaigns and political parties.
By PAT DOYLE, Star Tribune
Upset with restrictions on political campaign contributions, backers of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer are seeking to overturn a Minnesota law barring corporations from contributing directly to campaigns and parties.
State law now allows corporations to spend money independently of campaigns on ads supporting or opposing candidates, an arrangement that the U.S. Supreme Court approved early this year.
But the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life and Coastal Travel Enterprises seek to go beyond that ruling and allow direct contributions to candidates by corporations.
"Our clients believe ... that the First Amendment gives corporations ... the right to contribute to candidates and political parties through their general treasury funds," said Joe La Rue, an attorney for the plaintiffs, who sued this week in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
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