On December 19, U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill upheld Connecticut campaign finance laws that ban campaign contributions to candidates for state office from lobbyists, state contractors, and their spouses and dependent children. See the 98-page decision here.

This case’s name is Green Party of Connecticut v Garfield. However, that is somewhat misleading, because this ACLU lawsuit challenged many aspects of the Connecticut campaign finance laws in a single lawsuit. The first half of the lawsuit, involving discriminatory rules on which candidates may receive public funding, has nothing to do with the issues in the December 19 ruling.

Connecticut defines “lobbyist” to be someone who makes at least $2,000 per year as a lobbyist. “Contractor” is someone who has a contract with the state amounting to at least $50,000.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation ran a presidential candidate for the first time in 2008, Gloria La Riva. She appeared on the ballot in states containing 26.4% of the presidential vote. In those states, she polled .02% of the total presidential vote.

In 2004, the Socialist Party presidential nominee, Walt Brown, appeared on the ballot in states containing 20.5% of the presidential vote that year. He polled .04% in the states in which he was on the ballot.

In 2008, the Socialist Party presidential nominee, Brian Moore, appeared on the ballot in states containing 21.2% of the presidential vote. He polled .02% in the states in which he was on the ballot.