The Maine Municipal Association emerged victorious Thursday two years after it was sued over allegations that it gave $2 million to political action groups in attempts to influence referendum campaigns.

The victory came in U.S. District Court in Bangor where Chief Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. filed a 56-page ruling on the 2010 lawsuit filed by plaintiffs represented by the Maine Heritage Policy Center, which promotes conservative policies.

The nonprofit MMA offers education and legal and personnel advice to its members.

Judge Woodcock ruled for the MMA on every federal claim asserted by the plaintiffs.

“The Court holds that the government speech doctrine applies to MMA’s advocacy activities,” Woodcock wrote. “This is another way of saying that MMA has not violated the Plaintiffs’ rights under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution …”

Filed in Kennebec County Superior Court, the suit alleged that the MMA violated the rights of individuals by spending money to participate in five statewide citizen initiative campaigns between 2004 and 2009.

MMA Executive Director Christopher G. Lockwood praised the ruling as vindication that MMA did not violate citizens’ rights.

“For the past two years,” Lockwood said in a news release, “we have endured as the Heritage Policy Center used words like ‘scandalous’ and ‘illegal’ in regard to our information and advocacy, legitimate activities that we have been engaged with in Maine since 1936. We are grateful that Judge Woodcock today put all the claims of free speech violations firmly to rest.”

Woodcock said the government speech doctrine allows government to speak in an open democracy and doing so does not infringe on the free speech rights of individuals. There was no question that the five initiatives would have affected municipal government.

“It is undisputed that MMA’s advocacy activities related to initiatives that it perceived would have serious consequences for municipal governments,” the judge wrote, “and that the activities at issue did not support a particular candidate.”