Campaign spending lawsuit in judge’s hands

A federal judge is being asked to decide a challenge to state campaign spending laws that limit or restrict contributions by non-candidate committees without a trial.

Lawyers on both sides appeared before U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright this morning asking him to decide in their favor.

The state Attorney General is defending the laws.

A-1 A-Lectrician, CEO Jimmy Yamada and individual Russell Stewart are challenging the law because they don’t want the state to limit how much money they can contribute to legislative candidates, force them to include disclaimers when running ads for candidates, and require them to register as non-candidate committees.

Seabright did not make a ruling but said he will issue a written order on a future date.