"State Judicial Races See Record Spending"

[GreenPartyVoter]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Television ads for state Supreme Court races have appeared in an unprecedented 15 states this year, running up record tabs and upping the ante of what had long been generally sleepy affairs.

In West Virginia, a state Supreme Court justice running for re-election is dubbed a liberal in TV ads and accused of letting a sexual offender go free. And in Illinois, a high court candidate is labeled soft on crime because he gave probation to kidnappers who killed a 92-year-old woman.

The TV ads - a stark contrast to former races with a nonpartisan bent where candidates focused on their education and legal accomplishments - are discouraging advocacy groups who want to make such campaigns less political.

"All of the underhanded techniques that have been used in legislative and executive offices are going to spread to judicial campaigns unless there's a real concerted effort to stop them," said Deborah Goldberg, Democracy Program coordinator for the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan group that monitors TV spending on judicial races.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20041022/D85SIN181.html