The West Virginia judge who raised eyebrows for vacationing with the CEO of an energy company he'd just decided in favor of (a CEO known for using campaign contributions to influence the outcome of judicial races) has indicated he would support public financing of judicial races, but he has some concerns.

Judge Eliot Maynard's reservations about the system are logically spotty though: there's no evidence that public financing would lead to a rise in the number of wealthy candidates self-funding, in fact North Carolina has seen high participation in its judicial public financing program in all cycles to date. In general, public financing allows candidates who previously wouldn't have had the means to run to wage a competitive campaign and be free of special interest influence, essential for a judge:

He acknowledged that public financing would help to keep candidates from raising money themselves. This practice can lead to ethics questions for the candidate if the contributor later has a case before the court.