On January 9, U.S. District Court Judge Sim Lake, a Reagan appointee, enjoined a Houston, Texas ordinance that makes it illegal for candidates to ask for, or receive, contributions earlier than February 1 of the election year. Here is the opinion in Gordon v City of Houston, 4:14cv-3146, southern district. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
What second did ALL incumbents become the ENEMIES of the People ???
4 July 1776 ???
Williams v. Rhodes 1968 ???
Bush v. Gore Dec 2000 ???
There was an article in the Houston Chronicle about this, but I can’t find a link. The gist of the story was that most candidates are excited about being able to start collecting contributions three weeks earlier.
There is another case, regarding legislators and others who are likely candidates for city office this year. Legislators in Texas can not accept campaign contributions while the legislature is in session, as a result of someone walking around the House chambers handing out $100 bills. In that case, the sessions are quite short, so there a more obvious chance for quid pro quo.
Since the campaign for legislature just wrapped up, legislators may want to get a lot of contributions now. But if a legislator plans to run for city office, they are locked out of getting contributions for the next 5 months.
The other lawsuit apparently concerns a legislator who is receiving contributions to “run for re-election”, which he will then transfer to his mayoral campaign. But if he were forbidden from getting city election contributions before February, he might not be able to transfer them.