Justice Bradley
It wasn’t terribly shocking that state Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley won re-election and will serve another 10-year term on the court. She had name recognition, a lot of good will behind her, and a well-organized campaign. In contrast, her opponent, Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley was a low-profile candidate, which is not how you run a winning campaign. He stumped at Republican Party events, hoping that in a low turnout election the party faithful would shoo him in. He was wrong.
The lack of enthusiasm for Daley was fascinating. You could tell he was only a second- or third-tier conservative candidate, that no one else wanted to run this cycle. First off, Bradley is a solid candidate. You can go after her on her record or her alliance with Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, but most of the accusations fell flat. Daley didn’t have a whole lot going on for him. Yes, he hooked up with the Republican Party, a really stupid strategy.
But as Marie Rohde revealed, he also signed off on the John Doe investigation into Gov. Scott Walker and his allied special interest groups, Wisconsin Club for Growth, the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and others. And who puts up the big money in judicial races? Those same groups. No wonder why they didn’t put their money on him this spring. Besides, with Bradley recusing herself from hearing the case, they didn’t need him. They’ve already spent $10 million getting the four “conservative” (I prefer to think of them as “radical”) justices elected. That leaves Abrahamson and Crooks up against the four radicals. The groups have already invested in a favorable decision in their case.
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Now, onto the chief justice referendum. It passed, likely because voters didn’t understand what was truly going on. So the majority of justices will be able to select their own chief. It’s a sad day when the Legislature is meddling in court affairs, then snookering the voters with a benignly written referendum. But we’re pretty much used to sad post-Election Days in Walker’s Wisconsin. So even though the status quo on the court has been maintained, the right wing will likely get the justice of their choosing and will further transform the court into something that most fair-minded people won't recognize.
Another thought: Now that Abrahamson’s time as chief justice is likely over, do you think the Republican Legislature will remove the budget item docking the chief justice’s pay. Yes.
More congratulations to other winners yesterday: John Dickert in Racine, Bryan Kennedy in Glendale, new Milwaukee County supervisors Eddie Cullen and Supreme Moore Omokunde, and MPS directors Michael Bonds and Wendell Harris.
