An influx of millions in N.C. campaign spending from outside groups has raised concerns that state elections will become increasingly polarized.
About 76 percent of the more than $14.5 million spent in North Carolina went to gubernatorial and Supreme Court elections, according to a report released last week by the Institute for Southern Studies.
Judicial elections in North Carolina are nonpartisan, but experts say political agendas are pressuring candidates.
“Judges are referees if you will — they’re supposed to be above the fray,” said Brent Laurenz, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education. “They call the balls and strikes for the political system.”
The N.C. Judicial Coalition spent more than $1.9 million on Republican-favored Paul Newby’s successful campaign for N.C. Supreme Court.
Laurenz said partisan judicial elections are risky.
“I think no matter who you are, when you come before the judge or court you’re coming before a judge, not a Democrat or Republican,” he said.
The biggest donor to the N.C. Judicial Coalition was the group Justice For All N.C., which receives funding from the Republican State Leadership Committee, according to the report.
The increase in campaign funding reflects a national trend, said Steven Greene, a political science professor at N.C. State University.
