This spring the American Judges Association as part of its midyear meeting will be hosting a symposium on judicial elections (retention and contested) on May 17, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. Structural reform to deal with the issue of judicial races and money is not going to happen overnight, so practical discussion about how to deal with the 2012 election cycle most effectively is imperative. Among the speakers at the American Judges Association will be Alaska Supreme Court Justice Dana Fabe who was successful in her 2010 retention election through a very effective use of limited campaign funds and the use of social media. Registration for the conference (which will be limited) will be available shortly.  

A new report issued examines non-candidates’ special interest spending on judicial races reaffirms the seriousness of this issue. Among the report’s key findings:

·         Nearly one-third of all funds spent on state high court elections came from non-candidate groups ($11.5 million out of $38 million in 2009-10).  

·         Nearly 40 percent of all funds spent on state high court races came from just 10 groups, including national special interest groups and political parties.   

·         Though outside groups paid for only 40 percent of total ads, they were responsible for 3 in 4 attack ads.

WILKES-BARRE – Five of the seven candidates vying for six open seats on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas have spent a combined $889,000 in both the primary and general elections, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.That number does not include what judicial candidates Fred Pierantoni and Joseph Sklarosky Jr., have spent from June until October. Those reports were not available.WILKES-BARRE – Five of the seven candidates vying for six open seats on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas have spent a combined $889,000 in both the primary and general elections, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.

“The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2009-10,” by the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics, shows that expensive judicial races are increasingly the norm across the country. The report is available at www.newpoliticsreport.org.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Contested and expensive judicial races are not something that only occurs in big state Supreme Court races as illustrated by what is occurring in Pennsylvania where five of the seven candidates vying for six open seats on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas have spent a combined $889,000 in both the primary and general elections, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday. Campaign finance records show, with the exception of Pierantoni and Sklarosky, candidate Lesa Gelb spent the most on her campaign: $309,312. 
Read more: 

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Judge_spending_tops__1_million_10-29-2011.html#ixzz1cBWThZru