How Did State Supreme Court Races Get So Expensive?

By Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight. Here is an Extract:

It feels like November in Wisconsin — and not just because of the weather. TV watchers in the Badger State are again being badgered by political ads. Of course, there’s no presidential, Senate or House race happening soon. Instead, all that advertising is for persuading voters in a state judicial election.

According to the website WisPolitics, campaigns and outside groups have so far spent $27 million on the race for a single seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court — and there are still almost three weeks left before the April 4 election. But this astonishing sum didn’t come out of nowhere. Politicos have increasingly realized that state supreme court elections can be just as important as executive or legislative elections — and their campaigns have gotten a lot more attention as a result.

According to data from the Brennan Center for Justice, $114 million (adjusted for inflation)1 were spent in state supreme court elections in the 2019-20 cycle, more money than in any of the nine preceding election cycles.

Read the full article here.