The Kansas Supreme Court races are drawing an unusual amount of campaign spending this year, reports The Lawrence Journal-World.
But no one knows the total amount or where the money is coming from. That’s because a loophole in Kansas election laws prevents the disclosure of donor names and dollar amounts.
According to Alicia Bannon, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice, the only available data on campaign spending in Kansas judicial races comes from contracts to purchase air time on radio and TV. These purchases must be reported to the Federal Communications Commission, and are thus publicly available.
Outside groups have contracted to buy $200,000 worth of radio and TV ad time to campaign for or against Kansas Supreme Court justices. Of that, over half is going toward efforts to oust four of the five justices on the ballot.