Markley v. State Elections Enforcement Commission

Citations

• 349 Conn. 67

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, M and S, candidates for state legislative offices in the 2014 general election, appealed to the trial court from the decision of the defendant, the State Elections Enforcement Commission, which assessed fines against the plaintiffs upon determining that they had violated certain state statutes and regulations governing campaign financing and the Citizens' Election Program (program) (§ 9-700 et seq.). The plaintiffs' respective campaign committees had each applied for and received public funding grants through the program. During the 2014 election cycle, the plaintiffs' campaign committees published certain communications and advertisements that made various references to the record and policies of D, then the governor, who was running for reelection at that time. The communications both touted the plaintiffs' respective accomplishments and positions and referred to their opposi- tion to the agenda advanced by D and D's Democratic allies, including tax hikes and increased spending. One of the communications high- lighted votes taken by S's opponent in the 2014 election, C, when C was serving as a state representative. C filed a complaint with the commission, alleging that the communications were impermissible cam- paign expenditures under the program. C relied on an advisory opinion previously issued by the commission, in which it interpreted the statutes (§§ 9-601b and 9-607 (g)) defining the term ''expenditure'' and governing the permissibility of campaign expenditures, as well as the state regula- tions (§§ 9-706-1 and 9-706-2) implementing the program, and concluded that, in the absence of a statutory exception to the definition of ''expendi- ture,'' funds in a candidate committee's account may not be used to make a communication that is not directly related to the candidate's own electoral race and that also promotes the defeat of or attacks a candidate who is not a direct opponent of the candidate sponsoring the communication but who is running