Shaun McCutcheon

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Shaun McCutcheon is a businessman and electrical engineer from suburban Birmingham, Alabama. He serves as CEO of Coalmont Electrical Development Corporation. McCutcheon is the inventor and developer of industrial electric devices, including patents for Multipolar electric motors and generators as well as advanced synchronous machines, smart rotors, and other innovations in mining. [1]

Contents

McCutcheon is the successful plaintiff in the Supreme Court case McCutcheon v. FEC , a landmark campaign finance decision. [2] The case made McCutcheon, a Republican donor and conservative activist, a “First Amendment celebrity.” [3] A media commentator and columnist on free speech issues, he is also chairman of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation. [4]

Career

After graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology, McCutcheon began working as a field engineer, installing motor drives and electrical equipment for manufacturing industries. [5] In 1996, he founded Coalmont Electrical Development Corporation, an engineering firm specializing in complex electrical systems. [6] McCutcheon currently serves as Coalmont's CEO. [7]

McCutcheon v. FEC

McCutcheon rose to national prominence when he filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in 2012. [8] McCutcheon specifically challenged the FEC's “aggregate contribution limits,” which had imposed a cap on contributions an individual could make over a two-year period to national parties, federal candidates, and PACs related to presidential, Senate, and House races. [9] [10]

With the help of campaign finance expert Dan Backer, other attorneys, and the Republican National Committee, McCutcheon's case rose to the Supreme Court. [11] In 2014, the Court ruled in McCutcheon's favor by a 5-4 margin, claiming the FEC's aggregate contribution limits violated his First Amendment rights. [12] Politico described the outcome as “McCutcheon's victory lap,” calling him the “new face of money in politics.” [13]

In 2014, McCutcheon published a book, titled Outsider Inside the Supreme Court: A Decisive First Amendment Battle, about his Supreme Court case. [14] He also worked with legal scholar Ron Collins on his 2014 book, When Money Speaks: The McCutcheon Decision, Campaign Finance Laws, and the First Amendment, which includes interviews with McCutcheon. [15]

Political activity

McCutcheon is a Republican donor and conservative activist. [16] For his advocacy efforts, McCutcheon won the “Guardian of Free Speech” award at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in 2014. [17] Politico has listed him among its top 50 “thinkers, doers and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.” [18]

McCutcheon is also chairman of the nonprofit Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a First Amendment watchdog organization. [19] The foundation has accused Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett of campaign finance violations. [20] In March 2024, the foundation filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of Donald Trump, arguing that he should be immune from criminal prosecution based on his disputing of the 2020 presidential election results. [21] [22]

In 2020, McCutcheon filed to run for president as a Libertarian Party candidate. [23]

McCutcheon has made frequent appearances on cable news programs, talk radio, and other platforms to discuss free speech, political assembly, and the rights of donors to support politicians. [24] This includes appearances on Fox News, CNN, and NBC’s Meet the Press . [25] [26] [27] He has also been featured by The New York Times , USA Today , and other publications. [28] [29]

McCutcheon is the executive producer of Paris Hilton’s official music video for the song “ADHD." [30] He has also worked with Amanda Head on the radio program “The Hollywood Conservative.” [31]

References

  1. Frizell, Sam. "The Alabama Engineer Who Made History At the Supreme Court". Time. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  2. Liptak, Adam (2014-04-02). "Supreme Court Strikes Down Overall Political Donation Cap". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  3. "Blowing Up Campaign-Finance Limits Made Shaun McCutcheon a GOP Hero. Then He Set His Sights on Paris Hilton. - Washingtonian". 2015-06-07. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  4. McCutcheon, Shaun (2025-01-17). "Pro/Con: Defending TikTok is defending the First Amendment". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  5. Frizell, Sam. "The Alabama Engineer Who Made History At the Supreme Court". Time. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  6. Frizell, Sam. "The Alabama Engineer Who Made History At the Supreme Court". Time. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  7. Frizell, Sam. "The Alabama Engineer Who Made History At the Supreme Court". Time. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  8. Jacobs, Ben (2013-10-08). "Who Is Shaun McCutcheon?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  9. "Shaun McCutcheon says court victory renders super PAC obsolete". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  10. "McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission - SCOTUSblog". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  11. Liptak, Adam (2014-04-02). "Supreme Court Strikes Down Overall Political Donation Cap". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  12. Liptak, Adam (2014-04-02). "Supreme Court Strikes Down Overall Political Donation Cap". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  13. "Shaun McCutcheon's victory lap". POLITICO. 2014-04-12. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  14. ""McCutcheon v. FEC: Two Books on the Supreme Court's Latest Campaign Finance Case" (Video)". Institute For Free Speech. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  15. Collins, Ronald (2014-03-12). "Book excerpt: Before McCutcheon – The ACLU position in the early years". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  16. "Meet the Alabama man behind a Donald Trump super PAC". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  17. "Blowing Up Campaign-Finance Limits Made Shaun McCutcheon a GOP Hero. Then He Set His Sights on Paris Hilton. - Washingtonian". 2015-06-07. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  18. "The Politico 50 Survey". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  19. NewsRamp.com (2025-03-28). "Conservative Group Alleges Ethics Violations Against Rep. Jasmine Crockett". citybuzz. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  20. Birle, Jack (2025-04-12). "Jasmine Crockett faces FEC complaint over ActBlue donations". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  21. "Trump v. United States". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  22. "Docket Watch Trump Prosecuted in DC". Default. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  23. "MCCUTCHEON, SHAUN - Candidate overview". FEC.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  24. "Shaun McCutcheon's victory lap". politico.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  25. "Exclusive: Plaintiff reacts to ruling on political donations | Fox News Video". Fox News. 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  26. McCutcheon, Shaun (2014-04-03). "Why I fought campaign contribution limit". CNN. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  27. "McCutcheon: Donors Shouldn't Be Limited to 9 or 10 Candidates". NBC News. 2014-04-06. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  28. "Justices to Weigh Key Limit on Political Donors (Published 2013)". 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  29. Schouten, Fredreka. "Supreme Court weighs limits on campaign donations". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  30. Hilton, Paris (October 12, 2024). "Paris Hilton - ADHD (Official Music Video)". YouTube.
  31. "Reaganpalooza!". Bisnow. Retrieved 2025-09-02.