The year was 2018. Ariana Grande’s Sweetener topped the charts. Avengers: Infinity War smashed records. The U.S. midterm elections were in full swing, with Republicans on the way to holding the Senate and Democrats poised to take control of the House. And the day before Sen. Ted Cruz won his reelection, he loaned his campaign $260,000 out of his own pocket. The Texas Republican’s loan now sits at the center of a Supreme Court case that could impact the role money plays in politics and determine how candidates recoup personal funds they spent on their own races.