DENVER—A Colorado appeals court says that a judge seeking retention on Colorado ballots is “a candidate like any other” in a case about campaign finance rules for judicial retention elections.
The ruling published Thursday by the Colorado Court of Appeals means that groups seeking to keep or oust a judge should be treated like groups backing or opposing candidates for other offices.
The case arose from a group called Clear The Bench, which unsuccessfully campaigned for the ouster of three state Supreme Court justices in 2010. Clear The Bench argued that judges were a different class of candidate and that the campaign shouldn’t have the same rules as a political committee.
The Court of Appeals disagreed, saying judges are also political candidates when they stand for retention.
