James Lane Buckley was elected U.S. Senator from New York in 1970 as a member of the Conservative Party.  He won a three-way race with a plurality of 38 percent, defeating Republican incumbent Charles Goodell and Democrat Richard Ottinger.  Mr. Buckley had previously run in 1968 and received 16 percent of the vote while spending little on his campaign.  In his successful 1970 race, Mr. Buckley spent $1.8 million dollars, an astounding sum at the time.  However, during televised debates he agreed that campaign spending should be limited.  

But, after Congress passed legislation in 1974 that set mandatory spending limits for congressional campaigns, Senator Buckley challenged the law in court.  The eventual Supreme Court ruling, Buckley v. Valeo, rejected spending limits and has caused subsequent courts to throw out a host of important campaign finance laws passed at the state and local level.

James Buckley lost his race for re-election as well as a 1980 U.S. Senate race in his home state of Connecticut.  He went on to become a federal judge.

- The 1976 Buckley Decision 

- Who is James Buckley?