7 Incredibly Sleazy Ads Targeting Judges

Terrorist sympathizer. Friend to criminals. Pedophile supporter. Welcome to the increasingly nasty world of judicial elections.


Terrorist sympathizer. Friend to criminals. Pedophile supporter.

Nasty political ads using these innuendos may be familiar from the darkest corners of congressional and presidential politics—but these days they’re used to bring down judges too. State judicial elections, once sleepy and mostly cordial affairs, are in many cases now multimillion-dollar slugfests, thanks to an unprecedented tide of partisan money in play. Spending by outside groups in particular has soared over the last decade and a half, with much of the money funding these attack ads. Below are some of the most down and dirty used in recent campaigns. (For much more on how dark money is taking over judicial elections, see our explainer.)

“Sides with child predators”
Launched by a partisan group called Justice for All, this ad ran against North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Robin Hudson during the May 2014 primary election. Hudson weathered the storm, and will face Republican Eric Levinson in November.

“Free a terrorist”
An ad attacking, Bridget McCormack, now a Michigan Supreme Court justice, accused her of helping to “free a terrorist.” Sponsored by the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, the ad ran 416 times at an estimated cost of $614,000 during the 2011-12 cycle, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

“Denying benefits to cancer patients”
The Michigan Democratic State Central Committee ran an ad attacking three Republican candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court during the 2011-12 election cycle. The ad ran more than 550 times at an estimated cost of $364,000.

“He called her ‘a total bitch'”
Bitter tensions among Wisconsin Supreme Court justices led to this ad, which blasts Justice David Prosser for calling Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson “a total bitch” in a 2010 incident, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The ad, sponsored by the liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee, ran 134 times during the 2011-12 election cycle at an estimated cost of nearly $41,000.

“Protect our children, not sex offenders”
Another ad from the 2011-12 cycle in Wisconsin, this one accused Prosser of shielding a child molester from prosecution. Aired by the Greater Wisconsin Committee, the ad ran nearly 1,100 times at an estimated cost of $475,000.

“Sided with criminals”
This ad, run during the 2011-12 cycle in Kentucky, attacked then state Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo using a racially charged smear that juxtaposed the mugshots of two black convicts with images of pregnant white women. The opponent who defeated Stumbo, Will T. Scott, denied that the ad was racist; it ran 71 times at an estimated cost of $38,000.

“Imposing gay marriage”
The 2010 Iowa Supreme Court retention race made national headlines when three sitting justices were voted out after unanimously ruling in support of same-sex marriage. In 2012, conservative groups worked to oust another justice, David Wiggins, who had participated in the unanimous decision. This ad, sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage, ran 145 times during the 2011-12 cycle at an estimated cost of $86,000. (Wiggins prevailed, winning by 8 points.)

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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