HELENA — Montana Chief Justice Mike McGrath stood over a short stack of file folders, some bound by rubber bands, as he talked about his court’s growing caseload.
When he arrived on the high bench nearly eight years ago, cases were piled high. His first campaign was about clearing the backlog that kept dockets from being adjudicated expediently. Some cases were taking more than year to be decided, he said.
As he campaigns for a second eight-year term, the chief justice said he has kept his pledge to bring greater efficiency to the court. On average, cases are now being decided within 100 days of being filed, he said.
“I think people who follow the Supreme Court know that we’ve been an independent court that is fair,” he said in an interview in his chambers.
Three seats on the state’s seven-member high court, including McGrath’s, is up for election during the June 7 primary. Runoffs, if necessary, will be held during the November general election.
At least one of the races will be contested. Kristen Gustafson Juras, a University of Montana law professor, is vying for a seat against District Court Judge Dirk Sandefur. Both are seeking the seat currently held by Justice Patricia Cotter, who is retiring.
With one month to go before the March 14 election filing deadline, no other names have yet emerged to challenge McGrath.
McGrath, who was ending his second term as attorney general when he sought to lead the court eight years ago, said he supports having judges periodically face the electorate.
“I think it’s important that we remain accountable,” he said. But he bemoaned the role of money in judicial campaigns, which is not immune to the influences of dark money and outside spending.
Two years ago, outside groups spent nearly $1.4 million to influence the race between Justice Mike Wheat and challenger Lawrence VanDyke.
In 2012, the Montana Growth Network, a politically conservative nonprofit, spent thousands of dollars in support of the successful Supreme Court campaign of Laurie McKinnon.
In 2011, McGrath wrote the 5-2 majority opinion upholding the Montana Corrupt Practices Act, the 1912 voter-passed initiative that attempted to rein in the flow of money into state politics.
“Those tumultuous years were marked by rough contests for political and economic domination primarily in the mining center of Butte, between mining and industrial enterprises controlled by foreign trusts or corporations,” McGrath wrote, noting the “profound long-term impacts” of money-laden politics on the future of the state.
A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed McGrath to affirm its Citizens United decision that removed limits on how much corporations can spend to influence campaigns — setting the stage for groups such as the Montana Growth Network.
Unlike most other statewide offices, the bench is a nonpartisan position.
“We don’t run on issues. Sometimes it’s pretty hard to find things to talk about,” he said. “So what I’m running on is on our reputation that we’re doing a good job. … I’d like to stay.”