Topeka ? The Kansas Supreme Court is finding itself in the cross-hairs of this year’s electoral politics for its decision this year overturning the death sentences of two convicted killers, a ruling that prompted renewed debate over the way justices are appointed.

Kansas Republican Party chairman Kelly Arnold said in an email newsletter Wednesday that he is encouraging voters to vote no on retaining two of the justices involved in that ruling, Lee Johnson and Eric Rosen.

In July, the court ruled 6-1 to vacate the death sentences of Jonathan and Reginald Carr, who were convicted of the December 2000 murders of four people in Wichita. The victims were robbed, sexually assaulted, stripped naked and shot execution style in a field on the outskirts of Wichita. A fifth victim survived the attack.

“I live in Wichita and remember in great detail what our community went through during the Carr brothers murder trial,” Arnold wrote. “These men were tried and convicted by a jury of their peers for the horrific murder of four young Wichitans, only to have justice undone and their sentences overturned by our Supreme Court 14 years after their trials.”

That comment prompted a harsh reaction from Kansas Democratic Party executive director Jason Perkey.

“Politicizing the murder of Kansans is despicable,” Perkey said.

Arnold’s comment came on the heels of a new TV ad by Gov. Sam Brownback’s campaign that focuses on the Carr brothers case, referring to the justices as “liberal judges” and claiming that his Democratic challenger, Paul Davis, “stands with these liberal judges.”

Nola Foulston, the former Sedgwick County district attorney who prosecuted the case, called the ad “beyond disgraceful.”

At issue in the election, though, is not the fate of the Carr brothers, but the future of the Supreme Court and how its justices are selected.

Currently, when a vacancy occurs on the court, a nonpartisan selection committee made up mainly of attorneys interviews candidates and sends three nominations to the governor for appointment.

Brownback and many Republicans in the Legislature have criticized that process and have suggested changing it to allow the governor to make selections on his or her own, subject to confirmation by the Kansas Senate.

That issue came up during a televised debate Tuesday when the candidates were asked about their views on same-sex marriage. Brownback used that as an opportunity to criticize judges who have ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

“It comes back to the issue of judges, for governors. This is something that each of us have impact on,” Brownback said. “Do you want somebody appointing liberal judges, like Paul Davis? Do you want somebody to appoint judges who will stay within the law, like I appoint?”

Davis responded by criticizing Brownback’s only appointment to the Supreme Court so far, his own former chief of staff, Caleb Stegall.

“Your first choice to the Supreme Court referred to funding for public schools as wasteful spending,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t call that a good selection of somebody we want to have deciding critical issues. We don’t need to be giving the governor more power over the judicial branch, and that’s what Gov. Brownback wants.”