This year's race for the Michigan Supreme Court has drawn considerable attention for two key reasons: the vast amounts of money being spent on advertising, and the negative tone the advertisements have taken.

The election, between Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, a Republican, and Wayne County Circuit Judge Diane Hathaway, a Democrat, is expected to be one of the state's most hotly contested.

Robert Roddis, a Libertarian from Grosse Pointe Farms who works as an attorney in private practice, will also appear on the ballot.

Taylor and Hathaway have raised more than $2 million combined, making the race for the Michigan Supreme Court one of the most expensive state contests on the ballot. As of Oct. 27, Taylor’s campaign had raised around $1.8 million, while Hathaway’s total had reached almost $370,000, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

But those numbers don’t even come close to representing how much has actually been spent on the election, experts said. Rich Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said of all the money spent in this race, 60 percent has come from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee.

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee have spent $1,783,000 over the past two weeks “for television advertisements that seek to define the record, qualifications and character of one candidate over the other,” according to a news report issued by the MCFN.

The Chamber and the Democratic Party are independent of both campaigns and, because the ads don’t mention voting, the organizations aren’t required to disclose where the money came from.

“The peril in this is that an individual or interest group could secretly spend $1 million to market a candidate – a very important contribution — and then have that justice vote to select its case and rule on its case,” Robinson said. “That has considerable potential for conflict of interests and it certainly creates a troubling appearance.”

Robinson said other states, like Illinois and Virginia, have taken measures to close the apparent loophole, but the problem still exists in Michigan.

The Michigan Democratic Party launched a televised attack against Taylor on Oct. 20, claiming he fell asleep at the bench while hearing a case involving the deaths of six children in a Detroit home fire.

Taylor said there is no evidence to back the accusations, and the Michigan Government Television channel tapes every Supreme Court proceeding.

“The sleeping incident is a lie,” he said. “The campaign against me by Judge Hathaway is just a campaign full of misrepresentations and falsehoods.”

Taylor’s campaign has also been criticized for its negative advertisements.

Ads paid for by the Chamber of Commerce attack Hathaway for her lack of experience, saying she is unqualified and doesn't deserve to have her name on the ballot.

“I think, frankly, she was (nominated) largely because she has an attractive ballot name in Wayne County,” Taylor said. Hathaway has the last name as several previous Wayne County judges, including her ex-husband, former Wayne County Circuit Judge Richard Hathaway.

Robinson said he expects each campaign to keep the same rate of spending before Nov. 4.

But despite the numerous personal attacks on each candidate, Robinson said he doesn’t think the outside spending would have made a difference in the election, because Taylor is an incumbent. In the last three decades, only once has the election gone to the challenger.

“It’s very difficult to knock out an incumbent justice,” Robinson said. “It would be quite a surprise if Hathaway were to win this.”

A Detroit News/WXYZ-Action News poll, released last week, showed both candidates tied at 19 percent. Sixty-one percent of respondents were undecided.