The Local's guide to Sweden's political parties: The Sweden Democrats
The share of the vote won by the populist Sweden Democrats has grown in every parliamentary election since it entered parliament in 2010. Can it extend its winning streak and can it achieve its goal of getting ministers in a Swedish government?
National Democrats and Republicans are clamping down on local TV stations amid a fresh federal court ruling on political ad rates, according to recent reports. The outcome of their actions will significantly affect the 2026 midterms, as it determines which party's ad expenditures yield the most impact.
In March, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an FCC rule that provided discounted ad rates for congressional campaigns to political parties and super PACs. Consequently, outside groups must now pay a considerable sum compared to candidates. Democrats have traditionally excelled in fundraising at the candidate level, while Republicans control the party and super PAC spending. Thus, the ruling is perceived as a favorable outcome for Democrats.
Two Democratic media buyers, Miles King and Bradley Perseke, of Amplify Media and GMMB, respectively, have sent stations a letter, warning of potential legal repercussions if they offer reduced rates to outside groups. They argue that such actions may lead to unlawful, unreported corporate in-kind contributions. The letter urges stations to confirm their planned rates for political party committees and joint fundraising committees.
Amplify Media and GMMB have long collaborated with Democratic campaigns and organizations such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The latter two claimed they dealt Republicans a "major blow" in their latest effort to manipulate rules in their favor.
On the other hand, Ryan Dollar and Blake Murphy, the attorneys for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have responded to the Democratic letter, stating that it should be disregarded. They argue that neither the 4th Circuit ruling nor the Federal Election Commission guidance prevents stations from providing discounted rates to outside groups voluntarily.
The broadcasters have traditionally exercised discretion in setting advertising rates when advertisers are not entitled to specific statutory benefits, they claim.
Dollar and Murphy also assert that if stations follow Democrats' interpretation of the ruling, they may have committed years of campaign finance violations. Should stations adopt this logic, they intend to file Federal Election Commission complaints against those stations for all previous advertising they have offered. Republicans plan to appeal the 4th Circuit ruling to the Supreme Court and pursue all available remedies to recover any financial losses if the FCC rule is restored.
Written by urgent.news from Axios's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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