With the election for State Supreme Court just days away, the negative campaign ads are in full force on Wisconsin's airwaves. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's Mike McCabe says that level of negative advertising surrounding Judge Annette Ziegler and Linda Clifford's campaign could set the stage for funding reforms. McCabe says the race has done more to promote the idea of public financing for Supreme Court races than any advocacy group could have done on its own.
Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, McCabe says the negative tone makes the entire Judicial Branch suffer. He says other judges in the state should be furious because the special interest cash spent in the campaign so far has a terrible impact on the judiciary. Special interst groups have spent over $1.7 million on ads for both candidates.
McCabe says talk of reform is already starting to pick up, and this race shows the crisis the system is facing. He says there's already talk in the legislature at considering measure to change how these campaigns are funded.
McCabe says voters will make their opinions of the negative campaigning clear when they go to the polls on April 3rd.