Campaign Oversight Committees and the Challenge of Perpetuating Ethical Judicial Elections

Abstract

This article considers the potential contribution that judicial campaign oversight committees can make to maintaining ethical conduct during judicial elections. There is renewed interest in oversight committees because most are voluntary in nature and, thus, unaffected by federal court decisions that greatly diminish what can be officially regulated through the canons. Oversight committees may also be a better counterweight to the out-of-state interest groups that increasingly intervene in judicial elections. The effectiveness of oversight committees is considered in the light of historical experience and specifically the role such committees played in the 2006 elections. Much remains to be learned about the impact of oversight committees, but already there are grounds for cautious optimism.