Owens wins another term after unusually costly race

Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens won another six-year term on the state's highest court Tuesday in a race that renewed concerns about the influence of special-interest money on elections.

In early returns, Owens was leading state Sen. Stephen Johnson in all but four of the 30 counties that posted partial results.

Contacted at a pre-celebration dinner with her family Tuesday night, Owens said the evening was shaping up as "the third happiest day in my life."

"I already had a great deal of faith in the voters, and I've always felt that judicial races were not for sale," Owens said, shortly after viewing the early returns. "I don't think people have to spend a lot of money to get good judges."

Johnson, a Republican state senator for 12 years, conceded defeat early in the evening, saying he was overwhelmed by a "partisan tidal wave" that swept Democrats into office across the country and state Tuesday.

"I'm probably part of the wrong side of that wave," he said. "It's one piece of a bigger picture. It's not a referendum on the court, although some might say it is."

Two other court incumbents — Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and Justice Tom Chambers — also were re-elected, leaving the court unchanged. The two justices appeared unopposed on the ballot after winning more than 50 percent of the vote in September's primary.

Candidates competing for the three open Supreme Court seats this year collectively raised a record $1.6 million. Nearly $3 million more was spent on behalf of the candidates by special-interest groups, which turned the nonpartisan judgeships into partisan battlegrounds over gay rights, property rights and business liability.

The Owens-Johnson race alone generated more than $600,000 in contributions to the candidates.

Owens, 57, received her support from unions, gay-rights advocates and environmentalists.

Johnson, 66, was supported by business and property-rights groups, and social conservatives who endorsed his efforts in passing the state's Defense of Marriage Law in 1998. The law defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The state's Public Disclosure Commission, which oversees campaign finance and enforces the state's disclosure laws, is currently looking for ways to minimize the role that special interests play in campaign finance. Its actions stem in part from the amount of money spent on the Supreme Court races this year.

Susan Kelleher: skelleher@seattletimes.com Phone 206-464-2509.