CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The "Citizens United" decision released by the U.S. Supreme Court in January could have a major impact on upcoming congressional elections in West Virginia and Kentucky, to the possible benefit of Republican Party candidates.

Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired in June, wrote a dissent in the court's 5-4 decision warning that the "majority's approach to corporate electioneering marks a dramatic break from our past."

Roger Nicholson, senior vice president for the International Coal Group, sent e-mails to other mining executives last month, suggesting they might want to take advantage of the decision that allows companies to directly fund independent political committees created to support or defeat a candidate.

Nicholson specifically targeted three candidates in his e-mail: Reps. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., and Ben Chandler, D-Ky., and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

Nicholson said Rahall, Chandler and Conway are all against the coal industry.

In his e-mail, Nicholson stated that he had already held "theoretical discussions" with four coal companies - ICG, Massey Energy, Alliance Resource Partners and Natural Resource Partners - about setting up a political campaign committee.

On Friday, Nicholson's secretary at his Scott Depot office referred questions to Ira Gamm, an ICG spokesman.

"We are not answering any individual questions," Gamm said.

Asked whether the names of donors would be made public, Gamm said, "I don't know. This is just exploratory. It is speculative as to whether any money will be raised at all."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling does not allow corporate-financed political committees to have contact with candidates they are trying to elect or defeat.

This year, ICG and Massey are backing Elliott "Spike" Maynard, a former West Virginia Supreme Court justice who lost his seat in the 2008 Democratic primary, in his race against Rahall.

Maynard, who switched his party registration in Mingo County to Republican earlier this year, lost his 2008 campaign after photographs surfaced showing him vacationing with Massey CEO Don Blankenship on the French Riviera.

At the time, Massey had cases pending before the state Supreme Court.

This year, Rahall already has received contributions from several major coal companies and/or their political action committees, including: Peabody Energy, Consolidation Coal, Arch Coal, Patriot Coal, Black Beauty Coal, Magnum Coal, Cotiga Development, Alpha Natural Resources, Allegheny Energy and Patriot Coal.

The United Mine Workers PAC gave $10,000 to Rahall.

Larry Matheney, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, said, "The International Coal Group is probably not going to do one thing in violation of federal or state election laws, but that doesn't make it right.

"Campaign ads will paint good people as bad people, due to the unlimited influence ICG and other coal companies will have due to their vast financial resources.

"I hope we see publicly financed campaigns some day," Matheney said. "Until we do, public policy will be skewed to the wealthy."

Voters will be "judge, jury"

Individual political candidates have always been allowed to spend as much of their personal money as they wanted to spend on their own campaigns.

Contributions from others are limited:

Individuals may donate $2,400 to any candidate in any election cycle. If there are both primary and general elections, individuals may donate $4,800, according to Federal Election Commission regulations.

Individuals may donate up to $30,400 annually to a national political party committee.

Political action committees, which could be created by a corporation or a union, may give $5,000 to a candidate in each election cycle, totaling $10,000 for primary and general elections.

PACs also may donate $15,000 a year to national political party committees, according to FEC rules.

The Citizens United decision does not change those rules, but it allows corporations, unions and other groups to spend unlimited amounts to finance independent committees.

Larry Puccio, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, said, "This has been tried in the past in West Virginia, where big money attempted to buy up elections. It backfired and simply didn't work.

"Even though the Supreme Court has come up with their ruling, the truth of the matter is that the people of West Virginia will be the judge and jury when it comes to big companies using their money to control the citizens and working families in West Virginia," Puccio said.

Individual political donors already had the ability to spend unlimited amounts if they created federal "527" groups to back or attack candidates.

In 2004, Blankenship created "And For the Sake of the Kids," a federal "527" group that ran attack ads against incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw. Republican Brent Benjamin defeated McGraw for a 12-year term.

In 2006, Blankenship spent $3.7 million of his own money buying television, radio and mail ads attacking Democratic candidates and backing Republicans running for the state House of Delegates. On Election Day, just one of 42 Democrats Blankenship targeted lost. The Democrats increased their majority from 68 to 72 in the 100-member House.

Mike Stuart, elected chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party on July 24, said he is excited about the upcoming elections.

"The International Coal Group is a great company," Stuart said. "I am a 'Friend of Coal' and looking forward to doing all we can to preserve as many jobs as we can.

"We have a terrific candidate in the Third District with Spike Maynard and a great candidate in the First District with David McKinley.

"I am pro-coal. It has been important to West Virginia and to the country. I am looking forward to working with those candidates and sending some help to Shelley Moore Capito in Washington," Stuart said Friday.

Tracking the money

Some questions remain.

Does the Citizens United decision allow corporations or associations to violate the rights of individual stockholders or members when top executives decide to pour money into political campaigns?

Lawrence Tribe, a Harvard University law professor, wrote earlier this year, "People who invest in business corporations ... don't typically intend thereby to authorize the managers and directors of those corporations to use the money to help some candidates win election to federal office or to hinder the efforts of others vying for positions of federal authority."

Charleston lawyer Anthony Majestro said Citizens United clearly overturned the longstanding federal ban on making contributions directly from corporate treasuries.

"Now, instead of creating a 527, XYZ Corp. or PDQ Corp. can write a check to fund political activities. "Don Blankenship could spend his own money and disclose he was spending it [in the 2004 and 2006 elections]. At the time, the corporate ban prohibited a corporation from making those expenditures."

Citizens United also upholds existing federal disclosure rules, at least in part.

"Corporations that spend money directly must file disclosures," Majestro said, "but it remains unclear what happens when one company gives to another entity."

Fran Hughes, West Virginia's chief deputy attorney general, said, "If corporations or groups are allowed to keep their individual members anonymous, you might not know who the donors are. There may be no way to track that money."

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.