• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Dark Money Dominating State Supreme Court Races

by DC Editors - October 31, 2018

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
Outside Money Continues To Flow Into State Supreme Court Races
Image source

From the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Outside groups continue to pour money into state supreme court campaigns, with television advertising spending so far totaling $5 million this election season. The latest analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law shows that outside groups account for a near-record 54 percent of all TV spending on high court races for October.

“The surge of outside spending into state supreme court races continues to seriously threaten the integrity of our nation’s courts,” said Douglas Keith, counsel at the Brennan Center and coordinator of the ongoing Buying Time project that tracks state judicial election spending. “As we just laid out in a report earlier this year, outside and dark money spending imperil the ability of judges to be and appear fair and impartial, and the pressures of elections are contorting our justice system to favor the wealthy and the powerful.”

Data provided to the Brennan Center by Kantar Media/CMAG show that the biggest outside spender to date is the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Judicial Fairness Initiative, a regular player in state court races nationwide. According to state filings and public statements, already the group has spent at least $3.2 million this year to support conservative state supreme court candidates in Arkansas and West Virginia, well above the group’s 2016 spending across four states. The second biggest spender so far this cycle is North Carolina Families First, which has spent $1.2 million supporting Democratic candidate Anita Earls.

“As in 2016, what’s so distributing is that voters will likely never know who is making these multi-million-dollar ad buys,” said the Brennan Center’s Keith. “The top two groups this season have reported some of their donors, but the money trail is often obscured by donations from parent organizations, corporate interests, and other outside groups that aren’t required to report their individual donors. It’s nearly impossible to decipher who might be trying to skew state courts in their favor.”

In addition to TV spending, 2018 has seen outside groups spending on digital ads. Americans for Prosperity, a group affiliated with the conservative Koch brothers, is running ads supporting incumbent Michigan supreme court judge Kurtis Wilder, while Ohioans for a Health Economy, a group with close ties to the state’s Chamber of Commerce, is running digital ads supporting two state supreme court candidates.

The Brennan Center also finds candidates themselves are taking to the airwaves this fall in North Carolina, Nevada, West Virginia, Michigan, Arkansas, Alabama, and New Mexico (click here to read our state-by-state breakdown). In a twist this year, some ads from judges take the tone of partisan political spots, invoking President Trump or other national political figures and themes to make the case to voters. One ad from a sitting supreme court justice in North Carolina goes as far as imploring voters to “stop the liberals.”

“At a moment of political intensity, this kind of spending and politicization are hurting our nation’s courts,” said Brennan’s Keith. “That’s why we’re advocating for the abolition of state supreme court elections and favor independent, bipartisan commissions to vet judges for appointment to a single lengthy term. It’s one way to inoculate our state courts from undue influence and the scourge of dark, untraceable money.”

Dark Money Dominating State Supreme Court Races

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: Democracy in America Tagged With: American Corruption, American State Elections, Judicial Elections, Money Politics, Political Lobbying

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | AMERICA | Dark Money Dominating State Supreme Court Races

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

Florida Doesn’t Need a Speech Czar

By Steve Schneider June 28, 2022

Full disclosure: I’m a liberal Democrat. So, I won’t be sending in my vote-by-mail ballot for Ron DeSantis in November. Nor will I vote for him in 2024.

Introducing: When The People Decide

By Jenna Spinelle June 25, 2022

Several activists and average citizens have changed their communities and the country by taking important issues directly to votes.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Democracy’s Summer Blockbusters

By Jenna Spinelle June 8, 2022

The summer will be legally and politically charged particularly with the January 6 committee hearings scheduled to begin June 9.

Can American Democracy Have Nice Things?

By Jenna Spinelle June 7, 2022

Universal voting would be the surest way to protect against voter suppression and the active disenfranchisement of a large share of our citizens.

PODCAST: Baby Boomers And American Gerontocracy

By Jenna Spinelle May 23, 2022

Older and younger voters are increasingly at odds: Republicans as a whole skew gray-haired, and within the Democratis, the left-leaning youth vote.

A Dangerous Reprise Of American Exceptionalism In Ukraine

By Jamie Lampidis May 15, 2022

The stakes are too high to cave into Putin’s phantasmatic imperial play, and too high to believe that this war can be won by arming Ukrainians.

On The Coming End Of Roe v. Wade

By Peter J. Dellolio May 11, 2022

Anyone who says that the evolution of law has nothing to do with politics is either very corrupt or very stupid. Laws evolved through the centuries.

Goodbye Roe v. Wade, Goodbye Rule Of Law

By Andrew Straw May 5, 2022

Congress should impeach judges who act like that because it is not good behavior, and they were asked not to act that way when they were confirmed.

PODCAST: Debating The Future Of Debates

By Jenna Spinelle May 4, 2022

We love a good debate — and have certainly had plenty of them on this show. But how effective are they in today’s media and political landscape?

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

India: Why Are Punjab Political Singers Under Attack?

India: Why Are Punjab Political Singers Under Attack?

June 8, 2022

The murder of Sidhu Moose Wala has brought attention to the link between Punjabi music and India’s cross-border criminal networks.

University Educated Less Likely To Endorse Authoritarianism

University Educated Less Likely To Endorse Authoritarianism

June 4, 2022

Higher education is now seen as a new political cleavage, with level of education increasingly important in describing political attitudes.

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

May 25, 2022

The atmosphere in the interstate polling booth in Sydney’s inner east resembled that of an emergency room waiting for a donor organ.

Kenyan 'Cartooning For Peace' To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

Kenyan ‘Cartooning For Peace’ To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

May 17, 2022

Cartooning is an art that has been playing a major role in illustrating stories in different ways, from health to politics, and even sports.

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers' Anxiety, Even Online

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers’ Anxiety, Even Online

May 17, 2022

Organizational leader’s tweets can influence employee anxieties and this effect is more prominent since the rise of COVID-19, study.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy