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When Richard Bernstein decided to run for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, he had a lot stacked against him: He was a Democrat, he had no experience as a judge, and he was blind—something he’d dealt with his entire life.
Bernstein spent more than $1.8 million of his own money to get that seat, making history by becoming the first blind justice in the state’s history.
That ranks as the third-highest amount of overall spending in judicial elections during the 2013-14 cycle, according to the latest installment of “The New Politics of Judicial Elections,” a series of reports that have tracked spending trends in judicial elections since 2000. Even though he put $1.8 million of his own money into the race, Bernstein says it was just enough to get the job done, especially with a tide of PAC money flowing through various entitles that funded ads against him.
“You’re not really able to see firsthand the amount of money that was spent against [you],” Bernstein told Mother […]
