Maine has agreed to delay the enforcement of limits that voters approved in November on donations to political action committees in order to let a lawsuit over the referendum proceed.
Maine voters overwhelmingly approved last month new donation limits of $5,000 annually to committees that make so-called independent expenditures for or against candidates, but political groups tied to Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, filed a lawsuit last week that seeks to overturn the law by citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 that put no limits on super PAC spending.
The new law was set to take effect Dec. 25, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Frink Wolf wrote in a Friday order that the defendants — Attorney General Aaron Frey and Maine Ethics Commission members — have agreed to not enforce the limits until May 30, 2025, to give more time to resolve the lawsuit and avoid the need for the plaintiffs to seek a temporary injunction.
The parties will hold more briefings in January and February before seeking to hold a hearing on what the plaintiffs are seeking and the merits of the case in March, according to the judge. The lawsuit from Dinner Table Action, a committee connected to Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, and For Our Future, a related group run by conservative activist Alex Titcomb, is the first challenge to the referendum — Question 1 — that was a narrowly crafted effort from Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig to overturn the Citizens United decision.
Litigation was always expected, and higher courts may have to eventually rule on Maine’s law and similar ones in other states. The top donor to For Our Future has been a nonprofit tied to conservative legal titan Leonard Leo, who owns a home on Mount Desert Island. The lawsuit does not name any individual donors but says Dinner Table Action raised more than $454,000 during the 2024 cycle, with more than a third of that coming from people or groups donating more than $5,000 annually. The lawsuit said the limits would “cripple” their fundraising abilities.
The referendum would also require PACs to disclose the names of donors. The lawsuit said several contributors told Titcomb they would not donate if their identities would become public.
Frey spokesperson Danna Hayes said Friday the state had no additional comment. Titcomb’s and Libby’s groups are represented by attorneys Joshua Dunlap of Pierce Atwood in Portland and Charles “Chip” Miller of the Institute for Free Speech, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has worked nationally to oppose political donation limits.
“We’re extremely pleased that the state has agreed to postpone enforcement of Question 1,” Miller said Friday in a news release. “The ballot initiative goes against well-established legal precedent and unconstitutionally limits the speech of Mainers and their ability to participate in the political process.”
