New charges in court race

MONTGOMERY - In a state where Supreme Court races have been called obscenely expensive, the only Supreme Court race on the Nov. 4 ballot is neither the least nor most expensive among similar elections during the past seven races.

Based on the campaign reports filed with the secretary of state, spending so far by Democrat Deborah Bell Paseur and Republican Greg Shaw places theirs as the fourth most expensive of the seven Supreme Court races since 2002. That does not count the super-expensive 2006 chief justice race.

Paseur has reported spending $403,789, and Shaw has reported spending $519,132. Combined, they have spent $923,021 so far this year, according to campaign reports.

Shaw is a Court of Criminal Appeals judge. Paseur retired after 27 years as a Lauderdale County district judge to run for the Supreme Court.

They seek the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Harold See.

The candidates have one more campaign finance report to file before the election and another filing will follow the election. Between them, they could spend at least $1 million more.

A new development in the race has come from the Paseur campaign, which says an outside group is buying about $500,000 in television time to run political ads in Shaw's favor. Paseur's camp said the money doesn't have to be reported, leaving voters without the knowledge of where the money comes from.

Paseur spokeswoman Marion Steinfels said Monday the Center for Individual Freedom in Alexandria, Va., should reveal the origin of the money it spends on ads.

The "warm and fuzzy" ad doesn't mention Paseur and doesn't directly advocate voting for Shaw.

"Judge Greg Shaw should insist that this out-of-state group immediately pull down these ads or reveal the source of their funding," Steinfels said.

The organization is pro-business and seeks to "educate" voters, according to its Web site. Center executives or board members couldn't be reached for comment Monday. They either had unlisted home numbers or were unreachable at home. Their office was closed Monday for a federal holiday.

Shaw spokesman Josh Cooper said the center didn't contact Shaw's campaign before running the ad and Shaw has nothing to do with it.

He likened the center ad to the state Democratic Party supporting Paseur by releasing erroneous 2008 tax liens against an oil distributorship that Shaw's parents sold seven years ago. The new owners kept the Shaw name, according to Cooper.

Steinfels said the difference is that Democratic Party contributions are public record. She said the center is apparently linked to big business and oil companies that have cases before the Alabama Supreme Court from time to time.

Paseur's campaign recently ran an ad that said Shaw was bought by oil companies but it turned out her campaign got an identical contribution that was returned.

Steinfels and Cooper were asked if the race is dirty.

"Absolutely, our opponent and the Democratic Party have all attacked Judge Shaw's integrity," Cooper said.

"They're using lies, and yes, it's definitely a dirty campaign," Steinfels said.

The 2006 Alabama chief justice race is the most expensive for any state, with $2.47 million being spent by Chief Justice Drayton Nabers Jr. alone at this stage of the race. He was defeated by Democrat Sue Bell Cobb.

Three other Supreme Court races more expensive than Paseur and Shaw's at this stage of the campaign were a 2006 Supreme Court race between winning Republican Lyn Stuart and Democrat Al Johnson, a 2004 Supreme Court race between winning Republican Mike Bolin and Democrat John Rochester, and a 2004 race between winning Republican Patti Smith and Democrat Roger Monroe.

See and Democrat John England Jr., at this stage of their 2002 race, had spent $429,740. Both ended up spending more than $1 million each by the end of the

campaign.

Three other Supreme Court races since 2002 had spending of less than Paseur and Shaw's at this stage of the contests.

Dana Beyerle can be reached at (334) 264-6605.