The state Supreme Court race between could be as shaped by special interest group donations as it was last year, state officials said Wednesday.
The race is between incumbent Justice Louis Butler and Judge Michael Gableman.
The special interest big money politics that infected our statewide and legislative races last year for the first time '¦ now that trend is obviously continuing,"" Jay Heck, executive director of watchdog group Common Cause in Wisconsin, said.
Last year, large donations from outside parties were used in the state Supreme Court race between Madison attorney Linda Clifford and Washington County Circuit Court Judge Annette Ziegler, Heck said.
He said the record amount of campaign donations in 2007 resulted in the state Senate Impartial Justice Bill.
The bill, which is waiting to receive a hearing in the state Assembly, provides $100,000 per candidate for state Supreme Court races. Heck said Gov. Jim Doyle supports the legislation.
According to Heck, it is likely more money would be spent this year by candidates. Heck said the tone of the campaign is as negative as years past and could get worse closer to the election on April 1.
Heck said campaign finance reform would transform elections and would make officials ""beholden to the public"" and not special interest groups.
Tom Solberg, public relations coordinator for the State Bar of Wisconsin, said reports of legitimate campaign contributions for each candidate are between $100,000 to $300,000 excluding donations from special interest groups.
UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said both pros and cons exist in regards to advocacy group donations in the election.
He said since candidates are non-partisan, voters are provided a sense of a candidate's public policy stance by seeing which interest groups donate to their campaigns. On the other hand, if special interest money helps a candidate get elected, it can cause complications in later court cases, Franklin said.
Franklin said the ability of justices to be impartial could be questionable ""when one of the parties for the case spent two million dollars getting them elected. Or for that matter, to defeat them.
