Deceitful ALEC/Art Pope puppet files last minute to primary Dem NC Supreme Court justice

[struggle4progress]

... One of only two Democrats on the seven-member court, Hudson assumed she would be facing a general challenge in the fall from Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Eric Levinson, a Republican. But near the end of the filing period, a second opponent emerged, Jeanette Doran.

Doran is a former general counsel and executive director at the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, a group backed by Art Pope, the state budget director and a leading funder of conservative groups and candidates. Doran was appointed to chair the board of review at the stat Division of Employment Security where she handles appeals of unemployment compensation claims.

Doran’s entry recasts the election and complicates Hudson’s efforts to hold her seat. With three candidates in the race, the law requires that the field be reduced to two through the state’s primary election in May. That primary will feature a high profile and highly contested race for the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate nomination. Hudson, despite eight years on the state’s highest court, is little known statewide and could be swept out in a primary election dominated by Republican voters.

The suddenly altered political situation in an ostensibly nonpartisan race raises a question of whether someone is playing hardball politics to unseat an experienced, highly qualified and widely respected Supreme Court justice. Hudson says she doesn’t know whether Doran’s entry is a political gambit, but she says, “If someone is behind the scenes playing games, it’s not good for the court. It’s much too serious” ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024776124
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/30/3745186/a-surprise-primary-could-cost.html

[AleksS]

1. Of course it's a political game

Of course it's a political game! Look what happened in WI with our elected judges. AlEC/Kochs turned what are supposed to be non-partisan races into ultra-partisan, high-money races. We're now saddled with a high court that's the embarrassment of the nation, and a legacy that guarantees that justice (and justices) go to the folks with the most money to throw around.