Judicial Election Fundraising Shake Up

Great news for those of us who would like to get to know better ourjudicial candidates' positions and how they can run their campaigns.  Greg Wersal who I wrote about here after meeting him at the CD3 Full Committee Meeting and the SD45 coffee meet up has won a major challenge to the MN Supreme Court. Wersal posts here the results of this first amendment victory in the MN Supreme Court.

Greg Wersal challenged rules created by the Minnesota Supreme Court that prohibited judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign funds unless the candidate’s audience consisted of at least 20 people. The Court agreed with Wersal that the rule violated the First Amendment guarantee of Free Speech. Another rule that prohibited judicial candidates from endorsing other candidates for office was also struck down.

 In 2002, Wersal won a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that permitted judicial candidates to state their views on legal issues and seek political party endorsement. Wersal is running for the Minnesota Supreme Court in the elections this Fall and has been endorsed by the Republican Party, the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party.

 “This is a major victory toward the goal of holding judges accountable through free, open and competitive elections,” said Wersal. “ I now hope to raise the money necessary to tell the people of Minnesota that the judges, including my opponent in this race, want a constitutional amendment that would strip the public of their right to vote for judges. I will do everything I can to protect the right to vote.”

The full decision can be read here

As I wrote previously: Wersal is running a double campaign, one is the message: A campaign for Judicial Accountability, the other is the actual position on the ballot as candidate for Minnesota Supreme Court Justice. If you are a conservative, this is an easy one. There are only two people on the ballot this year, Incumbent Helen Meyer, appointed in 2002 by Governor Ventura; and Greg Wersal, the Republican and Constitution Party endorsed candidate.

One result if not obvious from the post is that judicial candidates like Greg can now ask for your donations. If you can consider a donation to Greg Wersal here.

A few others to consider:

Tim Tingelstad For MN Supreme Court   http://www.highesthill.com/
Dan Griffith For MN Court of Appeals   http://www.griffithforjudge.com/