At least two-thirds of Cole County's voters are concerned about "outside, special interest money pouring into" the county's circuit judge's race, according to a poll released Thursday by the Washington, D.C.-based "Justice at Stake" group.
Also Thursday, the D.C.-based Republican State Leadership Committee reported making two more donations to its Missouri political action committee, bringing the group's total contribution this month, so far, to $268,750.
Justice at Stake said its poll was taken by 20/20 Insight, LLC, and involved a survey of 579 Cole County registered voters between Saturday and Tuesday. The margin of error was 4.1 percent.
The poll's results showed Cole County voters are concerned about:
• Campaign contributions' influence on judges' decisions, 73 percent.
• Independent spending's influence on judges' decisions, 69 percent.
• The role that money and special interests play in Cole County judicial elections, 77 percent.
• The role that out-of-state money and out-of-state special interests play in Cole County judicial elections, 71 percent.
• Politically charged judicial elections pressuring judges to decide cases based on public opinion, rather than on the facts of the case and the law, 71 percent.
• Fair-minded people deciding not to become judges - or to run for re-election - because the position has become too political, 72 percent.
In an Oct. 16 news release - before the poll was taken - Bert Brandenburg, Justice at Stake's executive director, said: "When political groups try to buy up courts like real estate, they're pressuring judges to answer to politicians instead of the law and the Constitution.
"And when even local courts aren't safe from big money pressure, every American should worry that their liberties could be for sale."
Thursday's news release noted that the national RSLC "has spent $200,000 in direct candidate contributions and advertising" in the local circuit court election.
On Oct. 6, the PAC transferred the first $100,000 donation to Brian Stumpe's campaign committee.
Stumpe, a Republican and the current Jefferson City municipal prosecutor, is challenging incumbent Presiding Judge Patricia Joyce, a Democrat, in her bid for a third, six-year term as a circuit judge.
But so far, the rest of the national group's donations - $100,000 on Oct. 12, $10,700 on Oct. 17 and two donations Thursday totaling $58,050 - have remained with the PAC and have not been distributed.
RSLC spokeswoman Jill Bader told the News Tribune earlier this month that the second $100,000 was given to the Missouri PAC to pay for television and mailed advertising questioning Joyce's judicial record.
When asked about the poll results Thursday, Bader said in an email: "Liberal billionaire George Soros has funneled millions of dollars into Justice at Stake, which is now rigging polls in an effort to manipulate the public to elect judges to suit their needs.
"We believe democracy works best when there is balance and openness instead of the historic trend of closed, unbalanced "contests' controlled by a small group of elites."
And James Harris also cited the Soros support for Justice at Stake as an effort "to distract from (Joyce's) record."
Harris, a Jefferson City lobbyist, is a spokesman for the group Missourians for Open and Accountable Judicial Selection, which already has questioned Joyce's taking campaign donations from attorneys who practice cases before her.
But Laurie Kinney, a Justice at Stake spokeswoman, said Thursday: "It's not unusual for outside groups to change the subject when they are asked about the public's views of their efforts to intervene in local court races.
"For the record, Justice at Stake is a nonpartisan organization with board members, funders and supporters on all sides of the political spectrum, because - as our poll showed - protecting courts from political pressure is one of the few issues that voters of all stripes agree on these days."