Supreme Court Clears Way for Parties to Buy Cheaper TV Ads Before Midterms

The Supreme Court on Friday granted an emergency appeal from Republican campaign committees in a dispute over television advertising rates, temporarily clearing the way for political parties to purchase cheaper broadcast time ahead of the November midterm elections.

The justices halted a lower court ruling that had sided with Democratic candidates, who argued that discounted ad rates should be reserved for candidates only. The decision marks the latest election-related intervention by the high court in the run-up to the pivotal contests.

The Trump administration had backed the Republican committees' emergency request.

The ruling follows a June Supreme Court decision that removed limits on parties spending money in coordination with their candidates. That earlier ruling was seen as advantageous to Republicans, who hold a significant cash advantage at the national party level. Access to lower ad rates could further amplify that edge, while some Democratic candidates individually enjoy large fundraising leads over their GOP rivals.

Under federal law, candidates are entitled to reduced TV rates around elections. In March, the Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau determined that certain party-coordinated advertisements also qualify for those discounted prices.

Four Democratic figures, including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and former Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, challenged that interpretation in court and won before a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

The National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the appeals court had moved prematurely and that broadcasters had already begun charging them higher rates, disrupting their planned budgets.

The high court's order puts the appellate ruling on hold while the Republican committees pursue their appeal.