David Michael Miller
There are actually quite a few substantive differences between the three candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court on the Feb. 16 primary ballot (which will narrow the field to two for the April 5 general election). But they all sound alike in denying having — unlike their rivals — a partisan bone in their bodies.
Take Rebecca Bradley, appointed by Gov. Scott Walker in October to the seat to which she is now seeking a 10-year term. It was the third time in three years that Walker added a rung to Bradley’s career ladder, having previously appointed her to Milwaukee County circuit court and a state appeals court.
“No, not at all,” Bradley recently told WKOW newsman Greg Neumann, who asked whether her fortunes were tied to Walker. She purports to be “absolutely nonpartisan” and says her past political and ideological affiliations are irrelevant: “Our job is to apply the law fairly and impartially, regardless of the judge’s personal policy preferences or political inclinations.”
But Bradley will have a hard time selling that to some voters, in a race where both of her opponents — appellate court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg and circuit court Judge Joe Donald — are making an issue of those ties.
Kloppenburg, who lost a Supreme Court race decided by a recount in 2011, declares, in apparent reference to Bradley, that she is “unwilling to surrender our courts to outside special interests and partisan politics.” Donald, meanwhile, called Bradley “an ideologue” in a recent campaign forum, saying, “We need to convince the people it’s their court, not Gov. Walker’s court, not the Republican Party’s court, not the Club for Growth’s court.”
Bradley has in the past belonged to the Republican National Lawyers Association and given money to Walker and the Republican Party of Milwaukee County. In the current campaign, she has accepted help from the state GOP and attended GOP events. Ultraconservative Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke sent out a fundraising letter on her behalf. Bradley is past president of the Milwaukee chapter of the conservative Federalist Society. In 2006, she defended the right of pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for contraceptives on religious grounds.
In fact, the identification of Bradley as a Republican is so strong she’s been listed as such (though she’s never sought partisan office) on the website Ballotpedia, which bills itself as “the Encyclopedia of American Politics.”
Marquette University Law School professor Janine Geske, a former justice, says there’s “no question” all three candidates are qualified for the job. But their differences are enormous.
Bradley, the first Wisconsin justice with circuit court and appellate court experience (though both stints were brief), is “a rising star in the Republican Party,” Geske says, adding that this “clearly is where her support base is.”
But Kloppenburg, who like Bradley eschews labels, is also identified with partisan interests, Geske notes. The 2011 race she lost to Justice David Prosser was for many a referendum on Walker’s attack on state unions. She will likely be the favored candidate among those looking to shore up the court’s beleaguered liberal minority, now consisting of just two justices: Shirley Abrahamson and Ann Walsh Bradley.
Asked on WisconsinEye about the Wisconsin State Journal’s report that outside groups have pumped $13.2 million into the last six state Supreme Court elections (far more than the candidates themselves), Kloppenburg said this “undermines public confidence that the court will be a fair and impartial decision-maker.” But when host Steve Walters noted that $1.6 million of this was spent on Kloppenburg’s behalf by the Democratic-leaning Greater Wisconsin Committee, she replied, “They have the right under the First Amendment to participate in this election as they choose.” Bradley and Donald have made similar statements. (One outside group has already committed to spending about $400,000 on Bradley’s behalf.)
Donald, the third candidate, is hoping to become the first African American elected to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. (Justice Louis Butler was appointed in 2004, then had a bad first date with voters in 2008). He bills himself as “the candidate in the middle,” neither right nor left. While he is little known outside of Milwaukee, Donald is highly respected, and, Geske says, “his personality would be a calming influence on a court that’s been volatile.”
But Donald has also been accused of partisanship, by Bradley, for claiming he was “bamboozled” into supporting her in the past. And Kloppenburg’s campaign manager, Melissa Mulliken, said the episode raised “troubling questions” about Donald, remarking in an email, “We need a justice on the Supreme Court who can’t be ‘bamboozled’ by Scott Walker’s partisan agenda.”
Asked by Isthmus to name a Wisconsin supreme court justice, past or present, whom they admire, Bradley and Donald both picked Justice Patrick Crooks, who held the seat they seek for nearly two decades before his sudden death in September. Bradley cited his military service, long tenure on the bench and “deep faith and devotion to his family”; Donald praised Crooks’ “independence and ability to bridge divides on the court.”
Kloppenburg, meanwhile, picked Abrahamson, for whom she once interned, for her intellect, work ethic, “vision for making the court system more accessible and transparent,” and blazing a trail for women on the court.
Asked to identify a decision that sheds light on her judicial philosophy, Bradley cited an opinion she wrote as an appellate court judge in which she rejected the defense claims of a man caught with child pornography on his computer. Donald didn’t pick a particular decision but highlighted his role in setting up a drug treatment court in Milwaukee that “breaks the cycle of poverty, crime and drugs by using a non-adversarial approach to address addictive disease.”
Kloppenburg named two appellate cases: One affimed a widow’s right to bring claims in state court against the nursing home where her husband died; the other upheld the dismissal of a citation issued to a participant in a state Capitol protest because the rule under which it was written “prohibited unpermitted events undertaken by as few as one person.” Neither decision drew a Supreme Court review.
Asked about discord on the court, all three candidates pledged to be peacemakers. Donald said the once-respected court “is in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons.” Bradley said she is already “contributing positively to the interactions among my fellow justices.” And Kloppenburg said a bigger issue than court collegiality was the public’s sense that “some cases the court has decided — including voter ID, the John Doe investigation and Act 10 — were foregone conclusions.”
Rebecca Bradley
Age: 44
Resume: Milwaukee native; attended Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, Marquette University (undergrad) and UW-Madison (law school). Worked for 16 years as a civil litigator, arbitrator and business attorney. Appointed by Gov. Scott Walker to Milwaukee County Circuit Court, 2012; Wisconsin Court of Appeals, May 2015; and state Supreme Court, October 2015.
Endorsed by Justice Michael Gableman, four dozen circuit court judges, unions representing Milwaukee police officers and firefighters, and a majority of the state’s county sheriffs.
Money: Reported raising $229,870 in 2015, including from Bradley Foundation president Michael Grebe ($5,000) and businesswoman Diane Hendricks ($5,000). Bradley has in the past donated to herself ($110,000 for her 2013 reelection bid), Scott Walker, 2009-2012 ($1,250) and the Prosser Defense Fund, 2011 ($15).
Soundbyte: “The role of a justice is to interpret the law, not invent it.”
JoAnne Kloppenburg
Age: 62
Resume: Raised in Connecticut, attended Yale on a scholarship, got a master’s from Princeton and law degree from UW-Madison, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana. Served as assistant state attorney general for 23 years; ran unsuccessfully for Supreme Court, 2011; elected to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 2012.
Endorsed by more than 1,600 state residents, including former U.S. Congressman Dave Obey and former Wisconsin Secretary of State Vel Phillips.
Money: Raised $278,503 in 2015, including more than $138,000 from herself; other donors include Epic Systems CEO Judith Faulkner ($10,000) and former Madison Mayor Joe Sensenbrenner ($10,000). Kloppenburg has donated to Tom Barrett for governor, 2010 ($200), and Justice Shirley Abrahamson, 2008 ($100).
Soundbyte: “I have the courage and the background and the backbone to stand up for the people.”
Martin Joseph "Joe" Donald
Age: 56 (will turn 57 on Feb. 8)
Resume: From Milwaukee, attended Shorewood High School and got undergrad and law degrees from Marquette. Appointed as a circuit court judge by Tommy Thompson in 1996, reelected four times since without opposition.
Endorsed by judges and attorneys throughout the state, former state Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, and former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl.
Money: Raised $250,658 in 2015, including a donation from Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele ($10,000); has highest average individual contribution among the three candidates, at $356. Donald has donated to Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, 2015 ($40).
Soundbyte: “I am the most independent, qualified, and experienced candidate running this election.”
