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Terri Lynn Land on Government Reform |
Created in the wake of the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, super PACs can raise unlimited funds from corporations, unions, associations and individuals to advocate for or against candidates, but money must be spent on independent political activity.
"The Citizens United lawsuit actually started here in Michigan," Land said. "And that changed the dynamics of politics, restricted the parties, but it let individuals and others raise resources to do that. Our campaign has talked to a lot of those folks," she added. "They're committed to Michigan. They really want to support us here in Michigan. And if we can do this in Michigan, that means they win in the other states."
The State Bar, which represents 43,600 Michigan lawyers and judges, said secret contributions--dark money--prevent the public from knowing when [an elected] judge is being asked to rule on an issue involving a major donor. Dark money increasingly is playing a role in Michigan judicial campaigns. Last fall, someone secretly spent $2 million on misleading attack ads in an unsuccessful effort to defeat an incumbent Oakland County Circuit Court judge.