Two left-wing groups with different missions are joining forces to support their preferred candidates in November’s state Supreme Court elections, as those elections become increasingly expensive and politically polarizing.
The two organizations – the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, the Democrats’ arm in the fight over state and congressional maps; and Planned Parenthood Votes, the political arm of the abortion care organization — will initially target races in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. The fund, with a budget of $5 million, will provide digital advertising along with funding for campaign operations and turnout.
“Our goal is to protect the independence of state supreme courts, to ensure that they are staffed by judges who are dedicated to interpreting the law neutrally, who respect precedent, and who protect the fundamental rights of all citizens,” Eric H. Holder Jr., former attorney general and chairman of the redistricting group, in a statement announcing the joint venture.
Until recent years, state Supreme Court races have traditionally been relatively nonpartisan affairs—in most states, candidates are not officially affiliated with a political party—although partisan leanings can be gleaned from court rulings. But political interest in state Supreme Court races has exploded, culminating in a $50 million state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin last year.
National interest in state gubernatorial battles has accelerated rapidly since Donald J. Trump was elected president in 2016. State races, including those for governor, secretary of state and legislatures, are estimated to surpass $7 billion in fundraising in 2022 And with Congress largely deadlocked, heated political and political debates have largely unfolded at the state level.
Many groups, both Republicans and Democrats, will pour money into state Supreme Court races this year. The Republican State Leadership Committee spent more than $4.3 million on state Supreme Court races in 2018 and has not announced plans for 2024.
The alliance between the redistricting organization and Planned Parenthood was forged over four years as the United States Supreme Court issued landmark rulings that struck down both redistricting governance and abortion access.
In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause that federal courts are powerless to hear challenges to partisan gerrymandering, leaving state courts as the only place to fight political bias for a district.
And in 2022, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade left abortion access to the states. Since then, state supreme courts have played an increasingly critical role in finalizing abortion laws. Just last month, it was the Arizona State Supreme Court, not its Legislature, that restored an 1864 law that effectively banned abortion in the state. (The Republican-led Legislature would later repeal that ban.)
“We are in the fight of our lives to protect and restore our fundamental freedoms,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in a statement. “And our courts are the front line.”
