A Democratic Illinois Supreme Court justice, faced with a potentially costly reelection challenge, has spent more on TV ads than any other candidate or group in this year’s state high-court elections, according to data compiled by a reform group, while a Chamber of Commerce group in Ohio last week launched an ad campaign supporting two Republican candidates.

The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party — represented by the Brennan Center for Justice and the law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady — asked U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff today to grant a preliminary injunction barring the State Board of Elections from enforcing New York’s discriminatory “double voting” policy in the upcoming November election.

New York - The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party --  represented by the Brennan Center for Justice and the law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady -- filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging a discriminatory New York State policy for counting political party votes under a procedure known as “double voting.”

New York–Spending on state Supreme Court elections has more than doubled in the past decade, from $83.3 million in 1990-1999 to $206.9 million in 2000-2009, and deep-pocketed special interests play a dominant role in choosing state jurists, according to a report released today.