. >> reporter: rachel caufield is a professor of political science at drake university and a research fellow at the american judicature society. she thinks it's the family leader and other conservative groups around the country, that are inserting money and politics into the judicial system. >> i think we have a movement afoot to politicize our courts and in politicizing our courts i think basically that undermines the quality of justice in america. there's definitely a trend nationwide. we've seen a huge increase in campaign spending among judicial candidates, many of whom are supported by similar interest groups. >> reporter: according to the nonpartisan group called justice at stake, from 2000 to 2009, money spent on state supreme court justice races jumped more than two and a half times to over $206 million. in iowa in 2010, money spent, mostly from out of state totaled over $1.2 million to unelect the three justices there with ads like this -- >> if they can redefine marriage none of the freedoms we hold dear are safe from judicial activism. to hold activist judges accountable, f