Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, in dissent, wrote that the legislature's silence on campaign limits "speaks volumes" about its intent not to allow municipalities free rein in setting campaign caps. The majority's opinion threatens a "balkanization of the Election Code," Cappy wrote, quoting previous arguments.
Candidates' voluntary recognition of the contribution limits in this year's mayoral race helped Nutter, who relied on smaller contributions, to win the Democratic primary and coast to victory in the November election. He takes office a week from today.
"Elections should be about policy, about issues, about ideas, about getting more people involved at the ground level, not just a few people who can make large contributions," Nutter said yesterday. "The public can see for the first time in Philadelphia that grassroots campaigns mean something and that the financial and volunteer support that people give to campaigns has value."
It was an April 2006 lawsuit by then-City Councilman Nutter that started the dispute that ended up in the state's high court.
Nutter at that time sought an injunction in state court, seeking to force all mayoral candidates to abide by Council's 2003 law setting contribution limits at $2,500 per year for individuals and $10,000 a year for political committees.
A subsequent amendment, aimed at millionaire mayoral candidate Tom Knox, called for a doubling of those limits in any race in which a candidate contributes $250,000 or more of his or her own money. That effectively set the limits in the mayor's race at $5,000 for individuals and $20,000 for committees.
Potential mayoral candidates John Dougherty, the electricians union chief, and U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) fought back in court. Dougherty never ran; Fattah lost to Nutter in the May primary. Both appealed to the state Supreme Court.
