Political action committees aimed at keeping Arizona Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King on the bench spent big last quarter, while a committee to oust the justices is just ramping up. 

Judicial Independence Defense PAC, formed in June, brought in top dollar donations over the past three campaign finance reporting periods, as has another pro-retention PAC, Arizonans for an Independent Judiciary. Meanwhile, a committee seeking to oust the justices, Protect Abortion Rights, No Retention Bolick and King, registered in August, reported no funds or activities on its first campaign finance report.

According to Protect Abortion Rights, No Retention Bolick and King chair DJ Quinlan, the committee has been active, but only started bringing in contributions and campaigning in the past two weeks. He said they have been otherwise working through partner committees.  

Organized campaigns have been relatively rare in the history of the state’s judicial retention elections, making the competing efforts an anomaly.

As of Oct. 15, Judicial Independence Defense PAC brought in about $300,000 in contributions between July 14 and Sept. 30, including a $200,000 contribution from billionaire Jeff Yass. 

In that time, the PAC spent about $179,220 in total, with $97,500 going to signs. The PAC now heads into the general election with about a quarter million on hand. 

“We’ve seen a lot of support for this effort. At the same time, it is a statewide campaign, there is so much going on in Arizona now with the presidential election on down that it’s very expensive to get a message out,” Daniel Scarpinatio, spokesman for Judicial Independence Defence PAC, said. 

“We’re staying in front of as many Arizona voters as possible of all political parties or no political party affiliation with a very, very simple message, which is vote yes to retain every judge on your ballot,” Scarpinato said. “We’re communicating across digital platforms, through grassroots and canvassing efforts and trying to get the word out to as many people as possible, which is challenging in this environment.” 

Arizonans for an Independent Judiciary, a committee aimed at retaining all judges, brought in about $8,950, including a $5,000 contribution from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s committee, Moving Arizona Forward PAC. The committee spent about $11,115 and ended with a balance of $36,466. 

The group is vouching for the retention of all judges, but recently condemned “political attacks” on Bolick, King, Court of Appeals Judge Angela Paton, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury and Pima County Superior County Judge Kellie Johnson. 

The sole committee formed to oppose retention of Bolick and King, Protect Abortion Rights, No Retention Bolick and King, reported no activity this period and no contributions. But the committee is not inactive. 

The group posted signs earlier this month, with a note that the campaign had received 0% from out of state contributions and did not list the top three contributors to the campaign, indicating 100% in-state contributions and no big dollar donations to date.

Quinlan said the committee is serving as the local outfit and is largely relying on associate committees for funding and campaign activity. He clarified the blank campaign finance report was due to recent fundraising and campaign activity, occurring past the latest deadline. 

Quinlan said the bulk of grassroots campaigning is going through partner progressive committees, namely Future Freedoms, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Progress Arizona, LUCHA and the Arizona Democratic Party. Protect Abortion Rights, No Retention Bolick and King is keeping donations capped at $5,000. 

Similar to Judicial Independence Defense PAC, Quinlan noted the focus on the grassroots comes in recognition of a crowded election cycle. 

“Nobody on either side of this race is going to have the resources to compete with a U.S. Senate race and presidential race on TV, and so we’ve kind of made the strategic decision we’re most effective is talking directly to voters, going door to door,” Quinlan said.