Special interest spending soars in midwest

Ad spending in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan have reached epic proportions this election, according to a Justice at Stake report.

Illinois Justice Thomas L. Kilbride reported Oct. 18 he raised almost $2.1 million toward his reelection while the Illinois Civil Justice League has raised $561,000 since July 1 in an attempt to oust the judge. Together, the two groups have created the most expensive high court election since 2004.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Tort Reform Association has spent $150,000 and nearly $64,000 backing Kilbride. Of the $2.1 million raised by Kilbride, approximately $1.25 has come from the Democratic Party of Illinois.

Television ad spending has breached the $1 million mark in Ohio, with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce leading the way with $700,000 spent on air time. Republican Justices Judith Lanzinger and Maureen O’Connor have each spent $200,000, both of which have been positive and promotional. Democratic candidates Chief Justice Eric Brown and appellate judge Mary Jane Trapp have not run ads.

In what was originally expected to be one of the nation’s most expensive ad campaigns this fall,  the Republican Party of Michigan spent an estimated $357,000 on ads called “Your Choice” favoring Justice Robert Young. During the previous election, the GOP spent an estimated $2.6 million on Michigan high-court elections between 2000-09 in the 2000-09 “New Politics” report.

Over $3.8 million has spent spent on ad campaigns nationally in 2010, including general election and primary ads. Approximately $8.4 million has been spent on the 2009-2010 election cycle.

The top developments from judicial elections were reported by Justice at Stake and the Brennan Center for Justice in their joint web site, “Judicial Elections 2010.”