A conservative PAC has announced its key priorities to counter efforts by a former Obama administration official to elect left-leaning judges to state courts. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) revealed plans to support conservative judges in six states this fall, backed by a seven-figure ad campaign, according to a press release first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
This initiative has gained importance for Republicans in recent years, driven by efforts from former President Barack Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder to use courts to reshape congressional districts, particularly in Republican-leaning states.
“We know that redistricting is no longer a ten-year battle; it is a yearly fight. That is why we must elect more constitutional conservatives in races across the country this year to prevent liberals backed by millions in dark money from overturning conservative-led benches,” said Dee Duncan, president of the RSLC, which operates the Judicial Fairness Initiative (JFI). “JFI remains committed to electing conservative judges who will fight to keep justice blind and prevent Eric Holder and Barack Obama’s handpicked cronies from tipping the balance of power in these critical battleground judicial states in 2024.”
The RSLC’s focus is on judicial races in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. These state supreme courts have become prime targets for Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NRDC).
“State Supreme Courts have the power to review and, if necessary, overturn redistricting plans that are unfair or unconstitutional,” the NRDC’s website states. “Having a fair-minded court is vital to upholding democratic principles.”
The NRDC views North Carolina’s supreme court as “ideological” and prioritizes it, along with Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Texas, in this fall’s elections. The NRDC has also partnered with Planned Parenthood Action Fund to elect judges favorable to abortion rights and the transgender agenda to state supreme courts, as noted in a joint press release from May.
“We are in the fight of our lives to protect and restore our fundamental freedoms — and our courts are the front lines,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in the May release. “Opponents of abortion access, LGBTQ+ equality, and democracy itself are tilting the scales of justice by stacking courts that will carry out their destructive agendas. If this continues, we will surely see more devastating decisions upholding abortion bans, limiting care like IVF, and denying transgender people their dignity. We cannot afford to lose the fight for fair, unbiased courts.”
The RSLC also unveiled a video on Friday as part of its ad campaign, describing the judicial initiative as the “first line of defense” in a “fight to keep justice blind, not politically motivated.”
“America’s courts are under siege, radical liberals led by Barack Obama and Eric Holder are weaponizing the rule of law, redrawing maps, tipping the scales, and forcing through their agenda,” the ad’s narrator states. “The battle for our courts is the battle for our future,” the ad concludes.
