When Stras was last on the ballot 2012 he received 1,141,951 votes easily defeating Tim Tingelstad. It was the first and only election Stras has faced since he was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2010.
In Frankens last election 2014 he received 1,053,205 votes. But what the Judicial Crisis Network doesnt say is that there were four people on the ballot.
It also doesnt acknowledge a reality of judicial elections in Minnesota. Voters rarely know anything about the judicial candidate theyre voting for, partly because campaigns for judges have different rules. Candidates arent allowed to give opinions that might be perceived as not impartial on issues that might come before the court.
So, for the part, judges barely campaign, the media never cover the races on the rare occasion when a judge is actually opposed for re-election, and by Election Day voters are generally uninformed about their selection.
https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2017/09/franken-stras-face-off-leads-to-silly-ad-by-conservative-group/
The ad came from the Judicial Crisis Network, which has been around since the Bush Administration. Its purpose is to get conservative judges appointed. They worked to oppose the appointment of Merrick Garland and were behind advocacy ads for Gorsuch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Crisis_Network