From the St. Louis post dispatch

Supreme Court candidates disavow negative advertising
By Paul Hampel
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/26/2004The two candidates for the 5th District seat on the Illinois Supreme Court publicly promised on Wednesday not to run negative campaigns, and to disavow any such advertisements paid for by third parties.
The candidates - Washington County Circuit Judge Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican from Nashville, Ill., and 5th District Appellate Justice Gordon Maag, a Democrat from Glen Carbon - appeared with members of the Illinois State Bar Association at a news conference at the Holiday Inn in Collinsville.
Association president Ole Bly Pace III, of Sterling, Ill., said that judicial elections nationwide are becoming highly politicized and are undermining the public's confidence in an impartial judiciary.
"Some of these (national) elections have featured advertising that is damaging to the reputation of the court system," said Pace, flanked at the podium by the candidates.
"If this happens in Illinois, we will speak out forcefully, and we will encourage the candidates to join us in countering these messages," Pace said.
In addition, Karmeier and Maag signed pledges stating that neither will comment on pending court cases, and will disavow ads which "erode public trust and confidence in the dignity, integrity, or independence of the judiciary."
The bar association has formed a committee to monitor the advertisements.
The election season has already been rancorous, with charges that someone dug through the garbage of a Karmeier supporter; accusations that trial lawyers are funneling donations to Maag through the state Democratic party; television spots paid for by tort reform groups depicting judges as shadowy characters in league with the plaintiffs bar; and a suit filed by Karmeier's finance chairman against a pair of tort reform opponents who allegedly harassed the man's ex-wife.
When asked if any previous advertisements ought to be disavowed, Karmeier and Maag said they would not comment on past messages. Maag said he preferred to "concentrate on the future."
Pace said his group had not been in contact with any of the third parties that had lined up behind either Maag or Karmeier.
The Illinois Civil Justice League - a business group that supports Karmeier - has spent about $200,000 to run a "bad judges" commercial.
Victims and Families United, a group sponsored by trial lawyers, who back Maag, has run a newspaper ad attacking tort reform groups.
Reporter Paul Hampel
E-mail: paulh@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-659-3639