The two candidates vying for a spot on the state Supreme Court debated in Madison Tuesday, in a campaign both said is becoming increasingly ugly.

Incumbent Justice Louis Butler is facing Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman for the 10-year position on the court. The election is April 1.

Gableman said he was a judicial conservative and he would not legislate from the bench. He said Butler was a judicial activist who sided with criminals in his rulings.

Butler said he rejected being called an activist and said it was misleading.

“Judicial activist is a pejorative term tossed out by someone who doesn’t like a decision [in a case],” Butler said.

Butler said he was critical of Gableman’s misleading ads and said they contributed to the negative tone of the campaign.

Though the race is between the two judges, the majority of money spent in the campaign is by special interest groups.

In a Tuesday report by the watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, interest groups have currently spent $1.8 million in the race. The report said it was likely the amount of outside spending would be greater than last year’s race between attorney Linda Clifford and Justice Annette Ziegler.