A television advertisement sponsored by the Greater Wisconsin Committee debuted Tuesday, attacking Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s opponent, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick.

The ad is the first by a third party group to be run during this year’s campaign, a stark contrast to the 2008 Supreme Court race, which was dominated by third party ads.

“What we’ve seen in these last couple of years in the Supreme Court election is essentially special interest highjacking,” said Mike McCabe, director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “In the ’08 race … 98 percent of the ads were sponsored by four interest groups.”

According to McCabe, ads by third party groups often focus on violent crimes whereas the court usually only deals with civil cases, confusing citizens about the court’s real purpose.

Despite the stigma attached to third party ads, the Greater Wisconsin Committee’s ad is not intended to attack, according to spokesperson Michelle McGrorty.

The ad praises Abrahamson and presents her as a protector of children and consumers, while it portrays Koschnick as a contender largely interested in corporate and wealthy special interests.

However, McGrorty said the ad, which is airing in several media markets across the state, is not in support of any candidate in particular.

“We are not a political organization,” McGrorty said. “We address issues and where public officials stand on issues.”

McGrorty added their primary goal is to “educate citizens about victims’ rights in Wisconsin.”

Despite the positive tone associated with Abrahamson in the ad, her camp said she is not pleased.

“It’s not an ad we would have run, but part of democracy is free speech,” said Heather Colburn, spokesperson for Abrahamson.

She added she liked the way the ad discussed how Abrahamson has stood up for different people and emphasized Abrahamson would continue to run a “clean campaign.”

Koschnick was also displeased with the ad, according to Campaign Advisor Seamus Flaherty, who called the ad “shameless.”

Flaherty added the allegations made in the ad are false and unrepresentative of the judge’s actual voting record. He also accused the Greater Wisconsin Committee of being biased in favor of Abrahamson and even misreporting the facts.

“The ad talks about protecting children, but Abrahamson sides with criminal defendants more than any other judge on court,” Flaherty said. “It just shows how desperate Abrahamson’s cronies are to hide her record.”

He added Abrahamson was the only justice who voted twice to strike down Wisconsin’s sexual predator law that he said places “dangerous” sexual criminals in jail.

Koschnick has no plans to make a response ad at this time, but both Koschnick and Abrahamson have issued their own advertisements currently airing on TV and on the Internet.

This is not the first time the Greater Wisconsin Committee has sponsored an ad for a Supreme Court race, although this is the first time they have done so this year.

— Rachel Vesco contributed to this report.