The sole Illinois Supreme Court justice who was on the ballot in last month's election was sworn in for a second term this morning. Official results released last night by the Illinois State Board of Elections show just how close Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier was to losing his seat, after an election that saw hefty spending on both sides.
Never has a sitting member of Illinois' high court lost a bid for retention, but Justice LloydKarmeiergot close. He earned another ten years on the bench, with a margin of less than one percent (new state board of elections figures show thatKarmeiergot support from 60.77 percent of voters; he needed 60-percent approval to keep his spot).
Karmeier, who represents southern Illinois on the Supreme Court, won his seat a decade ago in a bitter contest.
He was heavily-funded by insurance groups and business interests; the Democratic candidate in that race had the support of trial lawyers.
The 2014 was somewhat of a repeat, only this time Karmeier had no actual opponent, and this time, the campaign contributions from 2004 had come back to haunt him.
Karmeier's critics say he was "bought," and that he should have recused himself from cases that ended in his supporters' favor.
Political observers say the big money that has entered into judicial races threatens trust in the system; suggest moving to merit-selection process for judges, and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reforms proposes a form of publicly-funded campaigns that match small donors' contributions.
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