Supreme Court strikes Arizona’s ‘matching funds’ to publicly financed candidates

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The Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of Arizona’s public campaign finance law, the court’s latest decision that the right of political speech trumps government’s attempts to restrain the power of money in elections.

The court rejected Arizona’s system of providing “matching funds” to candidates who face big-spending opponents or opposition groups. The system has been used in every statewide and legislative election since voters approved it in 1998, after a period in which the state told the court a “seamless interplay between fundraising and lawmaking cast a web of perceived corruption over the Arizona capitol.”