Martha Dean appeals from an April 9, 2007 judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Thompson, /.), dismissing her complaint. Dean, a former and possibly future candidate for Attorney General in Connecticut, argues that a contractual prohibition on contributions to candidates for the Office of the Attorney General from, inter alia, certain employees of private law firms that performed legal work for the State violated Dean’s rights under the First Amendment. Because the challenged contractual language has not been enforced in over six years and could not reasonably be expected to be reimplemented, we hold that Dean’s requested relief of a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and a cease- and-desist order are moot. We also hold that appellee Richard Blumenthal is entitled to qualified immunity from Dean’s claim for damages because there was no clearly established right under the First Amendment to receive campaign contributions during the relevant period. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Background
Under Connecticut General Statute § 3-125, the Attorney General for the State of Connecticut (“Attorney General”) “may procure such assistance as he [or she] may require” in carrying out his or her official responsibilities. Pursuant to this statute, the State of Connecticut, acting through its Attorney General, has contracted a portion of the State’s legal business to the private bar.
*63 From 1995 to October 2002, Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal included and enforced the following provision in contracts with outside counsel:
No partner, owner, director and/or employee, with managerial and/or discretionary authority, of the COUNSEL may directly or indirectly make financial donations to any candidate for the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Connecticut during the course of this agreement.
The Attorney General interpreted this language to apply to all lawyers in a contracting law firm as well as to spouses of covered lawyers. According to the Attorney General, this provision was included in order to avoid the appearance that the contracting law firm was being awarded a contract in exchange for future campaign contributions.
In 2002, this policy was challenged by appellant Martha Dean, who was the Republican Party’s candidate in Connecticut for the Office of the Attorney General. Her opponent was appellee Blumenthal, who at that time had held the office for twelve years. Prior to election day, Dean filed a complaint in which she alleged that Blumenthal’s policy on campaign donations deprived her of “needed financing for her campaign as a result of willing contributors withholding contributions for fear of suffering the loss of the State’s business.” (Comply 19.) Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Dean asserted that Blumenthal’s policy both violated her right under the First Amendment to receive campaign contributions and deprived her of her “right to receive funding for her campaign from otherwise willing supporters without due process of law” in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. (CompLIffl 21-22, 26.) Dean also alleged violations of the Connecticut Constitution. She sought relief including damages, a judgment declaring the contractual bar on campaign contributions to be null and void, a cease-and-desist order, and a preliminary injunction enjoining the promulgation of the policy.
Approximately one week prior to the election, Blumenthal temporarily suspended the contractual prohibition on campaign contributions pending a final decision by the district court. A letter was faxed to all firms with contracts with the Office of the Attorney General notifying them of the suspension. Blumenthal, however, continued to refuse to accept any campaign contributions from partners and associates (as well as their spouses) of any law firm holding an outside counsel contract with the Attorney General’s office. After winning re-election, Blumenthal moved to dismiss Dean’s complaint.
Approximately four years passed between Blumenthal’s motion to dismiss and the district court’s eventual ruling. Because the lawsuit had not been resolved by the next election cycle in 2006, Blumenthal continued his suspension of the campaign contribution prohibition. 1 Once again, a letter was faxed to all firms with open contracts with the Office of the Attorney General notifying them of the policy’s continued suspension. In addition, the Connecticut General Assembly passed campaign finance legislation in December 2005 that prohibited contributions from, inter alia, state contractors and prospective state contractors to certain committees af *64 filiated with a candidate for the Office of Attorney General. See S. 2103, 2005 Gen. Assem., Spec. Sess. (Conn.2005). As a result of this legislation, Blumenthal publicized to all firms with contracts with the Office of the Attorney General that the contractual bar on campaign contributions would be “wholly and permanently superseded” by the statutory ban as of December 31, 2006, the effective date of the campaign finance legislation.
In September 2006, the district court granted Blumenthal’s motion to dismiss. The court held that Dean’s claim under the Fourteenth Amendment failed because she could not demonstrate a liberty or property interest in the receipt of campaign contributions. It also dismissed Dean’s state law claims as barred by the Eleventh Amendment. 2 During the following week, the district court dismissed Dean’s remaining claim, which was based on the First Amendment. The district court concluded that Dean lacked standing because there existed no constitutional right to receive campaign contributions.
Discussion
As a preliminary matter, we address our subject-matter jurisdiction over this appeal, which we have an independent obligation to evaluate even in the absence of a challenge from any party.
Sharkey v. Quarantillo,
We conclude that much of Dean’s appeal is moot and therefore beyond our jurisdiction to review. Dean’s complaint principally seeks a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and a cease-and-desist order regarding an “office policy” that (it is undisputed) no longer exists. (Compl. at 12.) Dean attempts to avoid this complication by contending that Blumenthal could re-enact the policy at any moment, which might affect her if she runs in the next election and which, in any event, may amount to unconstitutional conduct that is capable of repetition yet evades review.
*65
See Altman v. Bedford Cent. Sch. Dist.,
It is clear, however, that the Attorney General will not re-enact the contractual bar on campaign contributions. The Attorney General has represented to the Court that he “has no intent to reintroduce the challenged provision into his contracts.” Standing alone, this representation might not suffice to render moot Dean’s requested relief.
See United States v. W.T. Grant Co.,
Moreover, although “[voluntary cessation of illegal conduct does not necessarily render the controversy moot,”
N.Y. State Nat’l Org. for Women v. Terry,
In light of (1) the undisputed fact that the contractual bar is no longer in effect, (2) the Attorney General’s consistent and voluntary conduct over an extended period of time in not enforcing the contractual ban, (3) his removal of the challenged contractual language based upon his belief that legislation has “wholly and permanently” rendered the challenged practice unnecessary, (4) his representations that he has no intention to re-implement the practice, and (5) his declining to reimplement the challenged practice despite a favorable ruling from the district court dismissing Dean’s complaint, we conclude that Dean’s requested relief for a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and a
*66
cease-and-desist order are moot.
See Catanzano v. Wing,
Dean’s complaint, however, also seeks damages, and Blumenthal’s withdrawal of the challenged policy does not render moot Dean’s requested relief for past constitutional violations.
See Stokes v. Vill. of Wurtsboro,
Because Dean’s claims are not moot insofar as she seeks damages, we now consider Dean’s claim that the Attorney General’s policy violated her purported First Amendment right to receive campaign contributions. Blumenthal disputed the existence of any such right, and the district court agreed. Although we affirm the district court’s judgment, we do not adopt its reasoning.
4
See In re Certain Underwriter,
Before discussing whether the right at issue was clearly established, however, we first explain how we approach our analysis of qualified immunity in light of the Supreme Court’s recent re-examination of its holding in
Saucier v. Katz,
In
Pearson v. Callahan,
the Supreme Court recognized that
Saucier's
protocol “is often beneficial,” such as where the analysis of the facts under clearly established law “make[s] it apparent that ... the relevant facts do not make out a constitutional violation at all” and where the question presented does “not frequently arise in cases in which a qualified immunity defense is unavailable.”
(1) “[I]t is plain that a constitutional right is not clearly established but far from obvious whether in fact there is such a right.”
(2) A “constitutional question is so fact-bound that the decision provides little guidance for future cases.”
(3) “[I]t appears that the question will soon be decided by a higher court.”
(4) The constitutional decision rests “on an uncertain interpretation of state law.”
*68 (5) The “answer to whether there was a violation may depend on a kaleidoscope of facts not yet fully developed.”
(6) The “briefing of constitutional questions is woefully inadequate.”
(7) A decision “may make it hard for affected parties to obtain appellate review of constitutional decisions.”
(8) Where the “sequence in which judges reach their conclusions in their own internal thought processes” is different from the two-step sequence prescribed by Saucier, thereby creating a “risk that a court may not devote as much care as it would in other circumstances to the decision of the constitutional issue.”
Id. at 818-20 (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). Based on these concerns, the Court held that “courts should have the discretion to decide whether th[e Saucier] procedure is worthwhile in particular cases.” Id. at 821.
We exercise our discretion here and will initially evaluate whether the constitutional right asserted by Dean was clearly established during the relevant period. Only if the right was clearly established will we then consider whether the facts that Dean has alleged make out a violation of a constitutional right. We invert the once-mandatory Saucier sequence because, as discussed below, it is clear that a constitutional right to receive campaign contributions was not clearly established, but it is “far from obvious whether in fact there is such a right.” Id. at 818. We also do not believe that a challenge to a practice that has been defunct for over six years, where injunctive relief is moot and where damages are speculative, presents an appropriate opportunity to explore the complexities of a difficult constitutional question.
In turning to our analysis of whether the constitutional right at issue here was clearly established, we may consider:
(1) whether the right in question was defined with “reasonable specificity”;
(2) whether the decisional law of the Supreme Court and the applicable circuit court support the existence of the right in question; and (3) whether under preexisting law a reasonable defendant official would have understood that his or her acts were unlawful.
Jermosen v. Smith,
In attempting to demonstrate a right under the First Amendment to enjoy, in her words, “a meaningful opportunity to raise funds sufficient to mount an effective campaign,” Dean argues principally by analogy to other First Amendment rights. First, Dean contends that the receipt of campaign contributions is like the right to receive speech or information, which is protected by the First Amendment.
See, e.g., Kleindienst v. Mandel,
*69
We do not believe that a reasonable person would have known of a firmly established First Amendment right to receive campaign contributions when the challenged policy was in effect. Indeed, Dean has failed to cite any decision available during the relevant time period in which either this Court or the Supreme Court specifically held that a candidate has a First Amendment right to receive campaign contributions.
See In re County of Erie,
We emphasize that, although we do not consider the right to receive campaign contributions to have been well-established during the relevant time period, we do not agree with the district court’s conclusion that such a right is “inconsistent with the structure of the [Supreme Court’s] opinion in
Randall”
To the contrary, although
Randall
did not recognize a First Amendment right to receive campaign contributions, its analysis did not foreclose such recognition.
See, e.g., id.
at 248,
We take issue with the district court’s reasoning in two respects. First, the record in
Randall
merely “suggested]” but did “not conclusively prove” that Vermont’s statute significantly restricted a contender’s funding.
Id.
In light of the record’s inconclusiveness, a consideration of additional factors may have been necessary. Second, even if the Supreme Court recognized a First Amendment right to receive campaign contributions, that right need not be absolute and other considerations might be relevant.
See Buckley,
In sum, Blumenthal is entitled to qualified immunity from Dean’s claims for damages because a right to receive campaign contributions was not clearly established when the Attorney General’s challenged practice was in effect. 9
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court dismissing the complaint is AFFIRMED.
Notes
. Although Dean did not run for Attorney General in 2006, she pursued her claims on the ground that she was considering a campaign in the following election cycle and, regardless of her political intentions, was entitled to damages as well as attorney’s fees. Robert Farr, the Republican Party’s nominee for the Office of Attorney General in 2006, was added as a party to Dean’s complaint. Farr subsequently filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, which was approved by the district court. Thus, he is not a party to this appeal.
. Dean states in her brief that she does not appeal the dismissal of her state-law claims, but she then argues that Blumenthal violated the separation of powers "set forth in the Constitution of the State of Connecticut.” In addition, Dean states in a section of her brief entitled "Summary of the Argument” that her federal right to due process was violated because "the restrictions established the defendant as the sole arbiter of when the restrictions had been violated with no meaningful review of his decisions.” But she has failed to develop either her state separation-of-powers or federal due process arguments and has therefore waived them.
See Norton v. Sam’s Club,
. Although Dean's complaint seeks only "damages,” this term can include nominal damages.
See, e.g., Irish Lesbian & Gay Org. v. Giuliani,
. The district court dismissed Dean’s claim under the First Amendment for lack of standing because it concluded that there was no constitutional right to receive campaign contributions. To establish Article III standing, a plaintiff must allege that she has suffered an injury-in-fact that is traceable to the challenged action of the defendant, and that is likely to be redressed by the requested relief.
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife,
. Dean never explained whether her complaint was brought against Blumenthal in his official or individual capacity. We therefore examined the "course of proceedings to determine the nature of the liability to be imposed,”
Frank v. Relin,
. We consider whether Blumenthal is entitled to qualified immunity even though this argument is put forward for the first time on appeal. Although "it is a well-established general rule that an appellate court will not consider an issue raised for the first time on appeal,”
Greene v. United States,
. The act of contribution, which relates to both expressive and associalional rights, in
*69
volves protected speech because "[m]aking a contribution, like joining a political party, serves to affiliate a person with a candidate. In addition, it enables like-minded persons to pool their resources in furtherance of common political goals.”
Buckley,
. In concluding that the campaign contribution limits were too restrictive, the Supreme Court also considered: (1) the statute's "insistence that political parties abide by
exactly
the same low contribution limits that apply to other contributors,” which it concluded "threatens harm to ... the right to associate in a political party”; (2) the requirement that volunteer expenses be included in calculating contribution limits; (3) the fact that the statute’s limits were not adjusted for inflation, but declined in real value each year; and (4) the fact that nowhere in the record was there any special justification for the statute’s low and restrictive contribution limits.
Randall,
. Dean also seeks attorney’s fees, presumably pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988. It is true that "mootness is not determinative as to the propriety of an award of attorney's fees,” which, instead, turns on whether plaintiff is a "prevailing party.”
LaRouche v. Kezer,