A left-leaning political advocacy group is raising questions about the 2002 appointment of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Michael Gableman to the Burnett County Circuit Court, saying it bypassed normal procedures and followed $2,500 in donations to then-Gov. Scott McCallum.

The questions surrounding Gableman 's elevation to the bench also are the subject of TV ads that began airing Thursday purchased by the Greater Wisconsin Committee, another left-leaning group that supports incumbent Justice Louis Butler. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the pro-Gableman Club for Growth Wisconsin also was expected to begin airing ads Thursday in Milwaukee, and pegged the cost of the Greater Wisconsin Committee 's ad buy at $187,000.

The growing ad war is the latest salvo in what is increasingly the norm in Wisconsin politics: Supreme Court races dominated not by the candidates but by outside groups using hardball tactics that have sparked criticism and calls for additional oversight. In 2007, outside groups spent $3.1 million of the $5.8 million spent on the race, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has estimated.

Both Butler and Gableman campaign consultant Darrin Schmitz decried the actions of the "shadowy " outside groups and their growing influence in high court races. Butler said the April 1 election for a 10-year term "should not be decided by the influence of deep-pocketed outside groups. "

But Schmitz alleged it was Butler who was responsible for the "smear campaign, " saying, "It looks like Louis Butler sent his liberal, special interest friends to do his dirty work for him. "

That charge drew a swift call from Butler campaign spokeswoman Erin Celello for a retraction.

"If a campaign were to illegally collaborate with outside groups, the penalties would be severe, " Celello said. "Mr. Schmitz 's accusation is both reckless and baseless. We challenge him to either produce evidence that the Butler campaign is coordinating with an independent group, or to retract the statement and apologize. "

McCallum appointment

Schmitz denied Gableman 's financial support of McCallum 's re-election campaign played any role in the selection. He said Gableman was unaware of the selection process when McCallum tapped him to serve on the Burnett County Circuit Court in late August 2002 -- two months after the deadline to apply for the position.

McCallum, in a statement released by Schmitz, did not address the question of whether donations played a role in Gableman 's selection. But he insisted that he chose "the best candidate available. "

"As governor, the final decision to appoint a judge was mine alone and not an advisory committee 's, " McCallum said, adding that it was his "desire to ensure that a traditionalist ' judge who respects the law " fill the position.

According to documents provided by One Wisconsin Now, Gableman:

Did not go through the selection process McCallum had outlined in two executive orders in 2001, including examination by the governor 's Advisory Council on Judicial Selection.

Never filled out an application for the position, as the other six candidates had.

Donated $2,500 to McCallum in the months leading up to his appointment to the Burnett County bench, including $1,250 on June 18, 2002 -- two weeks after McCallum appointed him as an administrative law judge in Appleton and two months before McCallum named him to the Burnett County position.

Held fundraisers for McCallum in November 2001 and June 12, 2002 -- the latter occurring after the deadline for application to the Burnett County position but before Gableman 's appointment to the bench on Aug. 19, 2002.

'Outside the process '

Selection council chairman James Troupis, a Madison attorney, said he doesn 't recall why McCallum chose Gableman over the two finalists his group recommended -- Burnett County District Attorney Ken Kutz and then-Polk County District Attorney Mark Drew Biller, both Republicans.

Biller said he was "shocked " to be notified by reporters in August 2002 that McCallum had chosen Gableman, adding he never got official word from McCallum. Biller agreed it was the governor 's prerogative to choose whomever he wanted but added, "I think it surprised everyone that the governor went outside the process. "

Biller, now a criminal defense attorney in Balsam Lake, chalked up his unsuccessful bid for the Burnett County seat to an earlier failed election for a judgeship in Polk County. "The main concern as I recall for the more political members of the interview panel was why I had gotten stomped so badly " in the Polk County race, he said.

Troupis agreed electability was a factor in deciding whom to recommend to McCallum -- whose choice was ratified a few months later when Gableman was elected to the court with 78 percent of the vote.

"There 's a reality there -- (as a judge) you are going to have to run for election, " Troupis said.

Biller said he harbors no resentment and considers Gableman qualified for the job. "He is a smart guy. He knows his law, " Biller said.