The race for Wisconsin Supreme Court has been dubbed one of the most important in recent memory -- and one of the most ugly and expensive. More than $2 million has been spent on TV ads, some of which have sparked strong reactions among the legal community and the public.

At stake, many observers believe, is the ideological bent of the state 's highest court, which is the final arbiter in most civil and criminal disputes in Wisconsin. The result of Tuesday 's contest for a 10-year term could either signal a new direction for the court or solidify its current split, observers say.

The seven-member court often comes down 4-3 on controversial decisions, with incumbent Justice Louis Butler, a soft-spoken, cerebral jurist who was appointed to the court in 2004, siding with the liberal majority. Opposing Butler is Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman, a self-described conservative jurist with a booming baritone voice who proudly bills himself as "law enforcement 's choice for the Supreme Court. "

If Butler were to lose to Gableman, it would be the first time since 1967 that a sitting justice failed to win re-election. (Then-Justice George Currie was booted after siding with the majority in an anti-trust case that allowed the Milwaukee Braves baseball team to leave Wisconsin.)

In TV ads and appearances, Gableman has cited a handful of cases Butler handled as a justice and a public defender in attempting to portray the incumbent as soft on crime and a "judicial activist " who decides cases based on his personal views.

One of Gableman 's ads focusing on a 24-year-old sexual assault case has been widely condemned; 52 judges signed letters Friday decrying the commercial, charging "Gableman was exceeded the boundaries of fairness, honesty and integrity for candidates running for judicial office. "

Butler has painted Gableman as precisely the type of activist the North Woods judge has railed against -- one who decides cases based on how we wants them to come out rather than what the law and previous court decisions require.

The negative tenor of the last two court races -- fueled by millions of dollars in spending by the candidates and outside groups with secret funding sources -- is raising increasing alarm among court watchers and good-government groups.

"One very serious question is whether the system of judicial elections in Wisconsin is broken beyond repair," said Howard Schweber, who teaches both political science and law at the UW-Madison. "It may be the case that from now on, judicial elections in Wisconsin will increasingly become exercises in personal attacks and ideological mudslinging carried out by party operatives and private groups hiding their agendas."