Suit Against New Campaign Finance Law Claims Racial Bias

Suit Against New Campaign Finance Law Claims Racial Bias

By RAY RIVERA
Published: February 12, 2008

The real estate industry and lobbyists, who together provide millions in campaign cash for city candidates, are trying to overturn a new law that would vastly reduce how much they can donate.
The 96-page complaint was filed by James Bopp Jr., a lawyer who successfully challenged Vermont’s campaign finance restrictions before the United States Supreme Court in 2006.

In an unusual tack, Mr. Bopp claimed that New York’s limits would make it more difficult for minority candidates to run, because they tend to come from poorer areas where their neighbors cannot contribute, so they must turn to business interests for donations.