In 2004, Illinois voters witnessed one of the most expensive and, perhaps, nastiest judicial races in the state’s history. Tort reform took center stage in the face-off between Republican Lloyd Karmeier and Democrat Gordon Maag for the south Illinois seat on the state Supreme Court.

Here was a race about a fiercely contentious issue in American politics, and one that is seldom honestly confronted. And this time, the battle was playing out in the heart of the American midwest.