The US Supreme Court threw out longstanding federal limits on spending by political parties in coordination with candidates, in a ruling likely to help Republicans in the November midterms.

The 6-3 decision extends a line of Supreme Court rulings rolling back campaign finance regulations as violating the Constitution’s free speech clause. The case divided the court along ideological lines, with the three liberal justices in dissent.

The majority overruled a 2001 Supreme Court decision that upheld the caps as a means of tackling corruption and preventing the circumvention of separate limits on direct contributions to candidates.

WATCH: The US Supreme Court lifts limits on spending by political parties in coordination with canidates. Source: Bloomberg

The ruling gives Republicans a much-needed financial boost ahead of what promises to be a difficult midterm election for the party. Through May, the Republican National Committee and its affiliates focused on House and Senate races had $256 million in the bank, twice the amount held by their Democratic counterparts.

That party money becomes even more valuable when it’s spent in coordination with candidates, who are guaranteed the lowest rate for advertising time on broadcast television within 60 days of an election. The discount isn’t available to super PACs or other outside spending groups.

Writing for the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the ruling will allow all political parties “to participate more freely and compete more fully in the political process, and to coordinate more closely with their candidates.”

Writing for the dissenters, Justice Elena Kagan said the ruling “jettisons a rule needed to protect our democracy’s integrity.”

The change could blunt the fundraising advantage that Democratic candidates enjoy. The party’s Senate campaigns have collectively raised $155 million more than Republicans have this election cycle. Democratic House candidates have a $216 million advantage over their GOP rivals.

More broadly, the decision is likely to strengthen the hand of political parties amid the rise in outside spending in recent years, an increase fueled in part by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling. That decision struck down limits on corporate and union political spending and paved the way for the super–PACs that have since become major campaign factors.

(Updates with latest party fundraising tallies in eighth paragraph.)

–With assistance from Bill Allison.

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