Hard-right PAC forms 'battle plan' to take on 'radical left' judges in 3 Kentucky races

A new conservative PAC formed in Kentucky this week with a goal of reshaping "radical left" courts plans to spend up to $1.6 million on three key nonpartisan judicial races this fall — with a TV ad buy starting Friday in the high-profile Franklin Circuit Court race.

Fair Courts America−Kentucky was formed Monday by chairman Doug Truax, who runs a group of conservative PACs and political nonprofits under the umbrella of Restoration of America, including Fair Courts America. Its website says Truax, an Illinois Republican, is a West Point graduate and Army veteran whose goal is to "preserve our way of life."

Truax did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the new Kentucky group this week, but The Courier Journal has obtained a strategy document described as its "battle plan" that shows the network plans to spend heavily on the Franklin Circuit race and two key Kentucky Supreme Court races.

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The group hopes to raise $22.5 million for judicial races it has targeted in seven states, according to its 12-page plan.

"We are the only national conservative organization battling the Left in state court fights," its plan says.

Its targets include "Democrat-controlled courts who invent law out of thin air and left-wing prosecutors who refuse to lift a finger to bring criminals to justice - or simply let them off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist," it says. "America will soon cease to be a nation of laws if this is allowed to continue."

In Kentucky, one of its targets is a Supreme Court race that already has drawn scrutiny for its partisan tone, with Joe Fischer, an anti-abortion state legislator, promoting himself as "the conservative Republican" in his challenge to incumbent Justice Michelle Keller for the court's 6th District.

The other Supreme Court race targeted by the new PAC is the 2nd District race between state Appeals Court Judge Kelly Thompson Jr. and Bowling Green lawyer Shawn Marie Alcott, who are running for the seat to be vacated by retiring Chief Justice John D. Minton.

The third is a high-profile race for Franklin Circuit Court where incumbent Judge Phillip Shepherd, who has often drawn the ire of conservatives, is facing GOP-backed lawyer Joe Bilby in a race already shaping up as the most expensive circuit court race in Kentucky history. Headquartered in Frankfort, the court gets some of the state's most controversial cases − including constitutional challenges to state laws.

Shepherd has raised about $460,000 and Bilby around $172,000, according to the most recent campaign spending reports.

A large, last-minute infusion of outside cash could mean even more money spent on the judicial races without knowing who's exactly behind it, several candidates said.

"It is an insult to Franklin Countians − and to all Kentuckians − that this shadowy, dark money group is targeting Judge Shepherd and other judges in our state," Diana Taylor, a volunteer spokeswoman for the Shepherd campaign, said in a statement. "Their focus on defeating Judge Shepherd makes it clear that they do not want an independent judge who will follow the law and defend justice and not be a rubber stamp for their wealthy special interests. We call on this organization to identify its supporters who want to buy judgeships in Kentucky."

Bilby's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Stephen Voss, a University of Kentucky political science professor who studies elections, said he's not surprised conservative groups are turning to state courts.

"State courts have been a big arena (for) leading policy changes for decades," Voss said.

And outside cash and more political ads will change the nature of races that under the state constitution are supposed to be nonpartisan, he said.

"The main effect of having money injected into judicial races is that we will see judicial races look like partisan races," Voss said. If that follows trends of other elections in Kentucky, it would lead to more conservative state judges, he said.

Keller, who has raised about $200,000 compared to Fischer's $54,000, said she has no idea what Fair Courts has planned, but she's bracing for a wave of negative ads against her.

"It really is unfortunate that forces outside the commonwealth of Kentucky want to interfere and control our state judiciary," said Keller, a nine-year member of the Supreme Court and a judge for 16 years. "Kentuckians should ask themselves why that is."

Fischer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thompson said he was astounded to learn the group plans to spend $1.6 million in Kentucky on three judicial races.

"This means the court system in Kentucky is going to be for sale," Thompson said. "If you want to come in and spend half a million dollars, you can probably win it."

Though he is registered as a Republican, as is his opponent, Thompson said he has no doubt Fair Courts plans to promote Alcott.

Thompson, who expects to spend about $100,000 on his campaign, also objected to the dark money aspect of the Fair Courts plan since it won't have to file detailed spending reports until closer to the Nov. 8 election. Meanwhile, donors are unknown.

"These could be the Russians," he said.

Alcott was not aware of any outside effort and had no comment, a campaign spokeswoman said.

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While Keller and Shepherd hold commanding leads over their challengers in fundraising, Bilby and Fischer have already received public and financial support from Republican elected officials and committees — and now appear likely to get a significant boost from Fair Courts.

On its website, Fair Courts America is described as standing against the tide of "progressive activists" who "seek to take control of the courts away from the people, to enact a liberal agenda resulting in violence and crime in our communities and creating victims of our neighbors."

In one section noting its target of the Kentucky judicial races, the plan says it is targeting "ongoing attempts by the radical Left to invalidate school choice."

Shepherd angered conservatives last year when he struck down as unconstitutional the state's "education opportunity" law, which would have created a system where donors get tax credits for providing money students can use for private school tuition.

The state Supreme Court next week is scheduled to hear arguments in an appeal of Shepherd's decision.

The plan further states that Fair Courts intends to spend $1,640,000 on the three Kentucky races, including $750,000 on TV ads and $500,000 on mailers.

Those TV ads are now underway, as Fair Courts has purchased $90,000 of ads on cable TV in Frankfort that begin Friday.

It plans to spend the rest of about $21 milliion in judicial races in six other states: Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, and appeals to donors to fund the effort, urging people to give "at least $1,000."

The Fair Courts America plan calls Restoration PAC, the group's affiliated federal super PAC, "the third-largest conservative super PAC in the country," behind only Americans for Prosperity and Club for Growth.

The mission statement of its website, Restoration of America, says it is taking on the nation's two most significant threats: "internally – the elite, Marxist neo-liberals and, externally – Communist China."

Restoration PAC reported spending $24 million in the 2020 election cycle and has already reported spending $15 million in the 2022 election cycle.

Contact reporters Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com and on Twitter at @d_yetter and Joe Sonka at jsonka@courier-journal.com and on Twitter at @joesonka,

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ultra-conservative PAC to spend $1.6M on Supreme Court, judicial races