Rich candidates catch a break

High court strikes down campaign finance measure

Still, dozens of candidates have been eligible for the millionaire's amendment provisions since the law was enacted. They include, most notably, then-Senate candidate Barack Obama in 2004. Obama was able to collect larger contributions because his Democratic primary opponent, Blair Hull, spent $28.6 million of his own money.

Bradley A. Smith, a campaign finance law skeptic formerly of the Federal Election Commission and now with the Center for Competitive Politics, predicted that the ruling "calls into question" other campaign laws that provide public financing to candidates who voluntarily restrict spending.

"It is potentially a blow to public financing systems, which were already undermined earlier this week by Barack Obama's decision not to take presidential public funding" this fall, Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault said.

The New York businessman who successfully challenged the law, Jack Davis, had been a failed House candidate.

In the House, the provision kicked in once a candidate - the presumed millionaire - spent at least $350,000 of his or her own money. The opponent then could collect significantly larger campaign contributions. The usual $2,300 limit on individual contributions would triple, and the $40,900 limit on political party expenditures would be lifted altogether.

The provision also imposed hefty reporting requirements that skeptics considered onerous.