Cooper says campaign finance ruling will affect his race more than others

Campaign Cooper says campaign finance ruling will affect his race more than others Comments: by Sarah Davis - 07/07/26 1:36 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Sarah Davis - 07/07/26 1:36 PM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) raised concerns on Monday that the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision last week could have an outsized impact on his Senate race against former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley.

The former Democratic governor criticized the high court’s ruling as the “worst campaign finance decision since Citizens United” in an interview with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes.

“Probably it will affect my race more than any others in that it empowers political parties, it empowers wealthy people,” he said. “And my opponent, Michael Whatley, was the chairman of the RNC, so he has access to all of that.”

The court sided with Vice President Vance on June 30 to eliminate federal limits on how much individual candidates can coordinate their spending with national political parties.

It follows the court’s landmark 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the majority overturned a ban on independent corporate expenditures and electioneering communications in federal elections. This decision changed the landscape of campaign finance and opened the door for greater influence from wealthy donors in elections across the country.

Under last week’s ruling, the Democratic National Committee and the RNC are now empowered to spend unlimited amounts of money in coordination with political campaigns.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized the majority as overriding Congress with its decision in a dissent joined by the court’s two other liberal justices.

Cooper warned the ruling will permit “virtually unlimited spending” from political parties and that it “takes away the power from the small donors.”

“We really need now more than ever to stand up to this big money,” he said. “We need to get rid of Citizens United and its effects, and we need people that are elected who will be willing to stand up to do that, and I will.”

Add as preferred source on Google Tags Chris Hayes Elena Kagan JD Vance Michael Whatley Roy Cooper

Comments: Link copied