[End The Hypocrisy]

>>>No bar association I've ever seen disciplines lawyers for filing lawsuits.<<<

That's a judge's job. And if the judge is elected and accepts funds from the trial bar, but does a terrible job of fining for frivolous lawsuits, don't you think the judge's political opponent can use that for fodder quite effectively?

[Amore]

No. Usually if a judge thinks the case is frivolous, he will not assess a fine, but he MIGHT just enter a summary judgment for the defendant. But even if a trial judge does throw a case out on a Summary Judgment, you know what happens? The plaintiffs appeal and the appellate judges will, more often than not, reinstate the case. After a while, those trial judges get tired of getting reversed on appeal so they stop throwing out frivolous cases.

As for whether that could be used against a judge politically, that's very hard to do. For one thing, usually if the public sees anything about a judge, it's his ranking by the bar association. Now guess which judges are going to get the highest rankings?

Further, in most places, a judge is not allowed to say much at all about what he would or wouldn't do if placed on the bench. He has to speak in vague generalities about promising to uphold the law (as if judicial "interpretation" of the laws did not exist). Again, those rules have all been set by bar associations and judicial decrees. It's not like regular elections where you can tell people you are a conservative, and where you stand on the issues, etc.