Brian Haas

bhaas@tennessean.com

In a major defeat for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, voters on Thursday voted to keep all three Tennessee Supreme Court justices in retention elections.

Chief Justice Gary Wade and Justices Connie Clark and Sharon Lee all survived to win new eight-year terms on the state's highest court, maintaining a margin of about 57 percent to 43 percent. While the justices were able to overcome a vigorous opposition campaign by Ramsey and others, who accused them of being "liberal," "soft on crime" and of helping Obamacare, their retention victories were by some of the smallest margins in recent history.

"I'm very excited and I'm very proud to be a Tennessean. I think tonight, the citizens of Tennessee spoke," Clark said by phone from a victory party in Nashville. "Our judicial system has been preserved ... justice is not for sale in Tennessee."

Ramsey, who launched an expensive, vigorous campaign against the justices, issued a statement congratulating the three, saying the race raised awareness about the Supreme Court.

"For the first time in decades, we had a real election for the Supreme Court. Our Supreme Court justices traveled the state of Tennessee this summer meeting Tennesseans and learning things about our state that you can't find in any law book," his statement said. "Because of that, more Tennesseans than ever know the names of our Supreme Court justices and are aware they have a role in deciding who sits on the high court."

The replacement campaign was spearheaded by the Tennessee Forum, a Franklin-based group that received more than $400,000 from Ramsey's political action committee. It was supplemented by outside conservative groups like the Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity and the Republican State Leadership Committee — groups that Ramsey helped recruit.

The race represented a flexing of Ramsey's political muscles in an effort to shape the court to his liking. But while the campaign may have made the race closer than past retention elections, Ramsey was left empty-handed.

And for all the money Ramsey brought in, the justices and their supporters actually outspent opponents on television ads by $579,870 to $474,150, according to Justice at Stake, which tracks campaign spending in judicial races and opposes the politicization of courts. In all, it estimates more than $1.4 million was spent in the campaign.

The opposition campaign didn't appear to affect the state's 20 appellate judges, who all cruised to easy victories in retention elections.

Tracey George, professor of law and political science at Vanderbilt University, said national partisan groups are spending more on statewide judicial elections, finding it easier to influence courts than state legislators.

That's something Tennesseans should expect to see more of in the future.

"You can move the electorate — this is a significant change for a relatively small amount of money," she said. "I think we'll see more money come in."

Reach Brian Haas at 615-726-8968 and on Twitter @brianhaas.