GOP plans Supreme Court bid over TV ad rates after Fourth Circuit loss
Republican campaign committees say they will seek emergency relief after a court kept discounted broadcast ad rates limited to candidates.
By Dominic Okoye · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
The National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee say they plan to seek emergency Supreme Court relief over TV ad rates after the Fourth Circuit rejected their bid to preserve discounted broadcast advertising prices for party committees. The move comes after the appeals court denied the committees’ stay request and issued its mandate immediately, according to Ars Technica.
The procedural fight is time-sensitive. The statutory 60-day period in which broadcasters must offer eligible candidates their lowest rates for comparable airtime begins September 4. The committees asked the Fourth Circuit to act quickly so they could pursue Supreme Court relief while campaigns are negotiating and placing advertising contracts.
Who can get the lowest TV election ad rate?
Federal broadcast law requires stations to give legally qualified candidates the “lowest unit charge,” meaning the lowest price paid by any advertiser for comparable time. The rule applies during the 60 days preceding an election. Political parties, joint fundraising committees and other outside groups generally pay non-candidate rates, which can be higher when demand for inventory rises.
Politico reported one illustration from the 2024 presidential race: Kamala Harris’ campaign paid $3,790 for a 30-second Good Morning America spot in Atlanta, while a super PAC paid $4,500 for the same time slot on the same day. That $710 difference is a single market comparison, rather than a standard rate gap.
The dispute grew from a March FCC memo saying political parties could receive candidate rates when their advertising spending was coordinated with a candidate. Four Democratic candidates, Sen. Jon Ossoff, Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, Roy Cooper and Sherrod Brown, challenged that interpretation.
On August 25, a 2-1 Fourth Circuit panel held that political parties and joint fundraising committees containing non-candidate members are not eligible for the lowest unit charge, even for coordinated ads. The majority concluded that the relevant statute and campaign-finance rules limit the benefit to candidates, Politico reported.
Why are Republican committees challenging the ruling?
The FCC’s position would let party committees use coordinated spending to buy broadcast ads at candidate pricing. That could make party money go further during the most expensive weeks of the campaign. The ruling applies to both parties, Axios reported, though Republicans had viewed the arrangement as a way to deploy their party-level cash more efficiently.
The legal question is narrow: whether statutory language covering use of a station by a legally qualified candidate also covers airtime a party or joint fundraising committee purchases on that candidate’s behalf. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III dissented, agreeing with the FCC that its reading was plausible.
Wilkinson also disagreed with the majority’s conclusion that the dispute was ready for judicial review. The majority treated the FCC’s lack of action on the candidates’ petition as a reviewable constructive denial; Wilkinson said the guidance was not a final agency action because the FCC was still considering the matter, according to Ars Technica.
The committees said they intend to seek emergency Supreme Court relief. The evidence available does not establish that a Supreme Court application has been filed, docketed or decided.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
