Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign reimbursed him $555,000 after he successfully challenged an election finance law before the Supreme Court, Insider reports.
Cruz in 2012 loaned his campaign over $1 million during his first Senate bid.
The 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, a law championed by the late Sen. John McCain, banned candidates from raising more than $250,000 after the election to pay themselves back from campaign money.
As a result, Cruz lost $545,000 after converting the outstanding portion to an in-kind contribution.
Six years later, during his election against Beto O’Rourke, Cruz loaned himself $260,000 in a bid to challenge the law.
Lawsuit:
Cruz filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission over the law and eventually took the issue all the way to the Supreme Court.
The court in a 6-3 decision ruled that the law was unconstitutional.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the limit "inhibits candidates from loaning money to their campaigns in the first place, burdening core speech."
The three liberal justices disagreed, warning that the ruling could lead to corruption.
"It takes no political genius to see the heightened risk of corruption — the danger of 'I'll make you richer and you'll make me richer' arrangements between donors and officeholders," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent. "In discarding the statute, the Court fuels non-public-serving, self-interested governance."
Big reimbursement:
A Cruz spokesman told Insider that the $555,000 payment came after the court "delivered a decisive 6-3 victory for the First Amendment when it ruled that these restrictions unconstitutionally limited free speech, benefitted incumbents, and discouraged challengers."
The campaign paid him $545,000 for the money he was barred from recovering in 2012 and the extra $10,000 he loaned his campaign in 2018.
