A photo ID was required to vote, a new requirement stemming from a law first passed in 2011 but eventually put on hold until it was upheld by the state Supreme Court in one of several rulings seen as partisan in recent years.
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The two defeated Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Joe Donald in a race that ended up being closer than some Democratic observers expected. She said her primary win shows “people don’t want partisan politics or special interests on their court”.
QUOTE – “I alone among the candidates have been to all 72 counties, and I’m struck by people’s shared hopes for the court”.
“When I hear those types of comments, it doesn’t sound like the Joe Donald I thought I knew”, Bradley said.
Bradley, who was appointed to the seat last fall, following the death of Justice Patrick Crooks, says she’s the only candidate to have served in all three levels of the state’s judicial system.
Governor Walker has appointed Rebecca Bradley three times to three judgeships in three years.
Kloppenburg graduated from the UW Law School in 1988 and worked as a law clerk for Chief Judge Barbara Crabb in federal district court in Madison before joining the Department of Justice.
While officially nonpartisan, Supreme Court races draw heavy spending from outside conservative and liberal groups.
Donald similarly criticized Bradley for the appointments she received from Walker.
It is common for sitting judges to support one another in elections, something Donald’s campaign itself has said in explaining Donald’s backing of Bradley. She says her time as a state prosecutor and an appellate judge has given her the experience she’ll use in the Supreme Court. “She has bipartisan support from law enforcement leaders across the state who understand the need for justices to uphold the law, not create it. Unfortunately, Joanne Kloppenburg would advocate politically charged judicial activism and take the court backward by legislating from the bench in a partisan fashion”.
“There are huge red flags for anyone concerned about an independent and ethical judiciary here”, Ross said. I am the presiding judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District 4. Donald’s campaign has spent about $143,000 on TV spots, compared to Kloppenburg’s $133,000. That year, Prosser narrowly won re-election over Kloppenburg.
The Supreme Court election was the only statewide race in Tuesday’s primary, which included scattered county and municipal races.
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Early in her career Bradley represented physicians in malpractice lawsuits and defended individuals and businesses in product liability and personal injury litigation and appeals.
