The Supreme Court ruled today that Arizona candidates who have opted in to the state’s public financing system can’t collect matching funds—the money allotted to candidates who are up against particularly well-funded opponents or interest groups—until the Court has time to consider whether the matching funds are constitutional.

Arizona’s primary elections will be taking place on August 24. Nearly half of the state-office candidates running in the primary have agreed to public funding.

Michael B. Keegan, President of People For the American Way, issued the following statement:

“The Supreme Court has demonstrated once again the extent to which it is willing to upend federal and state legislation and defy even the laws of common sense in order to maximize the power of corporations and wealthy individuals in our elections.

“In Citizens United v. FEC, the Court undid a century of established law to allow corporations to spend millions of dollars from their treasuries to influence elections. In this ruling, the Court has shown once again that it is open to letting big money gain big influence in our democracy. By leaving publicly funded candidates scrambling to catch up with well-heeled opponents, it has once again shown total disregard for the efforts of elected lawmakers to limit the sway of big bank accounts in the democratic process.”

###