KPBS:

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to tentatively approve caps on the amount of money political parties can donate to candidates for county offices.

Pending a second vote, the limits would be $25,000 for supervisors races by district and $50,000 for countywide offices.

When a federal judge struck down San Diego’s $1,000 cap on political contributions some years ago for being too restrictive, the county did away with its own limit, which was the same amount.

The city responded in 2013 by capping political contributions for district races at $10,000 and $20,000 for citywide campaigns.

Supervisor Ron Roberts proposed similar individual election limits — $10,000 for supervisors candidates since they’re elected by district, and $20,000 for countywide races like sheriff, district attorney, treasurer-tax collector and assessor/recorder/clerk — but later upped the amounts to $25,000 for supervisor races by district and $50,000 for countywide offices….

Roberts said city officials performed “a very thorough analysis” of the issues and reached an “appropriate balance” between free speech and preventing people from breaking the rules.

Thad Kousser and I provided testimony to the City Council in San Diego to help create the record to support the constitutionality of the City’s contribution limits.