Key findings
- Outside groups spent $11.7 million to influence 10 key state supreme court races in 2012-13.
- Nearly 40 percent of the spending came from groups whose funding originated mostly out-of-state.
- Outside influence likely helped decide races in North Carolina, Mississippi and Iowa.
- Three-quarters of the independent spending was traced to business groups and trial lawyers.
- Four of the top 12 spending groups -- Partnership for Ohio’s Future, Judicial Crisis Network, Wisconsin Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity -- did not publicly identify their donors.
