By Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A federal judge sided with state officials and allowed a Kansas law to go into effect that bans “foreign nationals” from contributing financially to campaigns for or against state constitutional amendments.
A Kansas advocacy group, backed by a Washington, D.C., law firm, challenged state officials in May and attempted to stop the law from going into effect July 1. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree denied the group’s request to block the law Monday in a 37-page decision.
He said the group, Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, “is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claim.”
Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which has accepted such funds directly and indirectly in the past, plans to advocate against a planned constitutional amendment that will ask voters in August 2026 if they want to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected. The group has already secured funding to do just that.
The law, House Bill 2106, was passed in April. It changes the Kansas Campaign Finance Act to prohibit accepting foreign funds, which includes money from donors who accept foreign funds, and using that money in activities that promote or oppose a constitutional amendment in Kansas. The group argued that the law was broad, vague and infringed upon constitutionally protected political speech.
Crabtree agreed with the state that ballot issues, particularly constitutional amendments, “shape the state’s most foundational document,” he wrote in the decision. But he also acknowledged the potential for HB 2106 to be “an unnecessary and paternalistic limit on which ideas get to compete in the marketplace of ideas.”
“Perhaps,” Crabtree wrote, “it’d be better, as KCF suggests, to allow Kansas voters to hear different perspectives — from many diverse sources — and trust the voters to make a choice for themselves.”
However, “whether wise or unwise policy,” the government has a genuine interest in limiting foreign influence in democratic self-government, he said.
The lawsuit named nine members of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission; the commission’s executive director, Wade Wiebe; and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who can bring criminal charges under HB 2106 against anyone who violates its provisions. The ethics commission, which is set to be renamed as the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission under a new law that takes effect in July, is able to bring civil action against those who violate HB 2106.
Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which played a major role in the 2022 campaign against an amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion, interpreted the law as a pointed hindrance to its ability to play such a role in the future. The group spent $11 million in its opposition to the 2022 abortion amendment, and it said in its initial lawsuit filing that members had already secured funding to oppose the August 2026 constitutional amendment.
State officials, on the other hand, argued in a court filing that HB 2106 is in the public interest.
“The interest is as compelling as it is utterly foundational: the sovereignty of the people of Kansas and the legitimacy of the democratic processes ensuring that sovereignty,” the filing said.
Other courts have dealt with the same question of foreign financial influence, arriving at similar conclusions to Crabtree.
Any person involved in campaigning for or against an amendment is required under existing law to submit a series of campaign finance reports. From July 1 on, organizations and individuals planning to engage in advocacy for or against a constitutional amendment must certify they haven’t received more than $100,000 from foreign nationals in the preceding four years. Any person or group who has received such funds is barred from participating in constitutional advocacy for up to four years.
The state’s definition of foreign national excludes people in the U.S. with permanent legal status and U.S. entities, unless they are wholly or majority-owned by a foreign national.
At a June hearing, attorneys for state officials clarified that any money Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, or other groups, accepted before the law’s effective date would not fall under the purview of the new law.
Kobach applauded Crabtree’s decision in a statement Tuesday, calling it “well-reasoned and thorough” and highlighting the specific nature of HB 2106.
“The people of Kansas have the right to decide these important questions for themselves without any foreign influence,” he said. “Foreign nationals should not be influencing Kansas elections, period. This is a win for Kansas.”
