The Prevalence of Independent Expenditures in Judicial Races.

In the past year, independent expenditures have been at the forefront of the debate over campaign finance, particularly with respect to judicial elections, though our understanding of this practice is relatively limited. In this paper, I examine and seek to explain the prevalence of independent expenditures in races for state courts of last resort using an original set of campaign finance data collected directly from state records. I find that independent expenditures are not necessarily as widespread as usually thought, but concentrated among a handful of candidates in only a few states. Based on the aggregate data, groups' decisions to engage in independent expenditures appear to be based on both candidate- and state-level factors. I also find preliminary support for my argument that election regulations intended to reduce the role of money in campaigns, such as contribution limits, may instead encourage higher levels of independent spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]