Tom Cotton

Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down limits on how much money political parties can spend as they coordinate with candidates will allow out-of-state interests to dictate Arkansas elections, according to Hallie Shoffner, the Democratic candidate hoping to unseat Republican Tom Cotton.

Shoffner decried the ruling at a press conference Wednesday at her campaign office in Little Rock, saying “billionaire donors and Washington political insiders” will be able to unfairly sway elections with their money.

“This politically motivated ruling opens the floodgates for a steady stream of money to pour into states like Arkansas and allows political party leaders in D.C. to influence our elections,” she said. “And while some campaign spending may be dressed up through party committees and political organizations … it is really meant to deceive, distort, attack, and most egregiously buy elections.”

The 6-to-3 conservative majority ruling on the National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission case, will allow local, state and national political parties to spend freely as they coordinate with candidates.

The caps, which ranged up to $4 million in Senate races and about $127,000 in House races, were ruled unconstitutional because they violated First Amendment rights.

The liberal justices, led by Justice Elena Kagan, who wrote the minority opinion, said the dismantling of limits would create “alternative checking accounts” for candidates and allow individual donors to skirt spending limits.

Shoffner said the rich want someone in office “who will do their bidding.”

“They want someone who will vote for tax breaks for the wealthy while working families pay more at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and on their monthly bills,” she said. “…That is why they are spending millions on Tom Cotton.”

Wealthy interests, like the Koch brothers, “have treated our state like a testing ground. … They think they can buy Arkansas. They think they can scare voters, distort the truth and protect politicians like Tom Cotton. They are wrong.”

As an example, Shoffner said the America One Policies, a “dark money” PAC, which was launched in 2019 by Cotton supporters, had spent more than $3 million on Cotton and just recently placed a $567,000 media buy in Arkansas to attack Shoffner and shield Cotton.