Judicial race donations near $1 million.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

SALEM - An unprecedented six-figure contribution reported this week to Oregon Supreme Court candidate Jack Roberts made all but certain that the race will be Oregon's first judicial contest to pass the million-dollar mark.

The $150,000 check from an industry-backed group represents 40 percent of the money raised by Roberts, a Eugene lawyer, economic development official and long-time political figure who served two-terms as Oregon's labor commissioner.

In all, Roberts, Pendleton trial lawyer Gene Hallman and Oregon Court of Appeals Judge Virginia Linder have raised just more than $843,000 - already a record, according to financial records for recent contested races and the memories of long-time court-race watchers.

That figure is almost certain to grow to seven digits, if not in today's round of campaign-finance reports, then in the fall, when the two top vote-getters will meet in a runoff - unless one of the three comes out of next Tuesday's election with more than 50 percent of the vote.

The $150,000 from the American Justice Partnership is the largest donation from an interest group in this race or any past races, according to recent records. It came from a group based in Washington, D.C., that is backed by unidentified corporations. President Dan Pero said the group formed in early 2005 to support court and political judges and to push an agenda of "legal reform" that would end what he called the "jackpot justice" of large damage awards against tobacco, pharmaceutical, chemical and manufacturing companies.

It's not the only big contribution from a group with an interest in how the court deals with its issues.

Roberts, a Republican who ran for governor four years ago, has collected $372,437. Among that money has been $50,000 received from Nevada medical equipment mogul Loren Parks. Roberts picked up contributions of about $15,000 apiece from two of the leading groups in Oregon's culture wars: anti-abortion group Oregon Right to Life, and the anti-gay marriage organization Oregon Family Council. He's also collected tens of thousands from timber companies and executives, including some of the biggest contributors to the Measure 37 property-rights measure, such as Seneca Jones Timber Co. ($10,000) and Greg Demers ($2,500).

Roberts' list of donors also includes what amounts to a who's-who list of prominent Lane County business leaders and businesses, who so far have given more than $35,000 in contributions ranging from $150 to $10,000. Among them are Monaco Coach CEO Kay Toolson ($5,000), the Pape Group Inc. ($1,000), and members of the Giustina family and their land and forest-products businesses (a combined $7,000).

Roberts pointed out that none of his contributions was solicited, in accordance with Oregon restrictions on how judge and Supreme Court justice campaigns are to be conducted. He said the contributions probably reflect that contributors are aware of his business background, both as a Lane County and state labor commissioner and as the head of the local economic development agency, Lane Metro Partnership. He said the same could be said for his chief-fundraising rival, Hallman.

"But I think he would say, as would I, that that doesn't mean that I'm always going to come down on the business side or that he's always going to come down on the labor side," Roberts said.

Hallman, a plaintiffs' lawyer, is the second-biggest fundraiser with $343,112. He has received large contributions from fellow members of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. Just among contributions of $5,000 or more, Hallman received $72,000 from trial lawyers and their law firms.

Hallman also has been on the receiving end of both endorsements and dollars from organized labor. Unions account for $35,000 of his funds.

Hallman's biggest funding sources: himself and his firm, which have given his campaign $122,719 in cash and in-kind support.

Although his contributions have come from concentrated areas, Hallman said he's received additional support in the form of smaller donations from insurance-defense lawyers, who go up against trial lawyers, and endorsements from a broad range, including law-enforcement groups and Associated Oregon Industries, the state's largest pro-business lobbying organization.

He said the big-money fundraising effort was a necessary part of running as a relatively unknown candidate from Eastern Oregon who is taking on two candidates who have won statewide races.

"I have to be able to get around the state, get my message out. And when I have been able to do that, it's been pretty well-received," he said.

Linder's fundraising total, $127,601, puts her in a distant third place after Roberts and Hallman. Most of her money has been in contributions under $5,000. Among her biggest contributors are the Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund ($15,000) and the Oregon Women's Political Action Committee ($5,000). She's also received support from fellow judges, attorneys and former colleagues from her days working as a lawyer in the Oregon Attorney General's Office.

Linder did not return calls to her campaign office. Earlier she told The Oregonian newspaper that she hoped her credentials would overcome her opponents' financial advantage.

Chuck Tauman, one of Oregon's most prominent trial lawyers and a veteran of past supreme court campaigns, said he was alarmed by the large, late-in-the-election-cycle contribution from American Justice Partnership to Roberts' campaign. Even so, Tauman said he has yet to see evidence of special-interest money going into judicial-race campaigns resulting in the sort of negative campaigning or interest-group pandering that's paid for with such contributions. "The voter-contact information does not tell voters about any ideological difference," said Tauman, who is supporting Hallman.

Former Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Edwin Peterson said this year's big-dollar donations in the Supreme Court race could portend an end to previous bland but above-board campaign themes.

"Certainly we know that elected politicians, Republicans and Democrats are not immune to the power that substantial contributions bring," he said. "I cannot help but believe that the same risk exists for judicial campaigns."

SUPREME COURT CONTEST Here are the three candidates' campaign-finance figures and top donors: Jack Roberts: $372,437. American Justice Partnership, $150,000. Gene Hallman: $343,112. Gene and Mary Hallman, $122,719. Virginia Linder: $127,601. Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, $15,000.