456
REPUBLICAN FEDERAL CAMPAIGN COMM. Opinion of the Court
We accordingly apply to a party's coordinated spending limitation the same scrutiny we have applied to the other political actors, that is, scrutiny appropriate for a contribution limit, enquiring whether the restriction is "closely drawn" to match what we have recognized as the "sufficiently important" government interest in combating political corruption. Shrink Missouri, 528 U. S., at 387-388 (quoting Buckley, supra, at 25, 30).17 With the standard thus settled, the issue remains whether adequate evidentiary grounds exist to sustain the limit under that standard, on the theory that unlimited coordinated spending by a party raises the risk of corruption (and its appearance) through circumvention of valid contribution limits. Indeed, all Members of the Court agree that circumvention is a valid theory of corruption; the remaining bone of contention is evidentiary.18
17 Whether a different characterization, and hence a different type of scrutiny, could be appropriate in the context of an as-applied challenge focused on application of the limit to specific expenditures is a question that, as Justice Thomas notes, post, at 468, n. 2, we need not reach in this facial challenge. Cf. Brief for Petitioner 9, n. 5 (noting that the FEC has solicited comments regarding possible criteria for identifying coordinated expenditures).
The Party appears to argue that even if the Party Expenditure Provision is justified with regard to coordinated expenditures that amount to no more than payment of the candidate's bills, the limitation is facially invalid because of its potential application to expenditures that involve more of the party's own speech. Brief for Respondent 48-49. But the Party does not tell us what proportion of the spending falls in one category or the other, or otherwise lay the groundwork for its facial overbreadth claim. Cf. Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U. S. 601 (1973) (overbreadth must be substantial to trigger facial invalidation).
18 Apart from circumvention, the FEC also argues that the Party Expenditure Provision is justified by a concern with quid pro quo arrangements and similar corrupting relationships between candidates and parties themselves, see Brief for Petitioner 33-38. We find no need to reach that argument because the evidence supports the long-recognized rationale of combating circumvention of contribution limits designed to combat the corrupting influence of large contributions to candidates from individuals
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