Courtesy of Katie Kegel
There is only one contested judicial race in Milwaukee County, and the voters are fortunate to have two good candidates, Susan Roth and Katie Kegel. Susan Roth is a well-respected attorney with a strong endorsement list, but we believe Katie Kegel to be truly exceptional, and that is why the Shepherd is enthusiastically supporting Kegel. We were very impressed with both her professional accomplishments as an attorney but also her personal story.
Kegel grew up in a Wisconsin small town in a working-class family where everything she had ever gotten in life, she earned through being smart and being willing to work hard. While a freshman in high school when most small-town kids are not thinking about college, Kegel decided she wanted to go to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As many of you readers know, acceptance to West Point requires not only being a stand-out high school student, but also being nominated by a Congressperson. Kegel was nominated by two: Democratic Senator Feingold and Republican House member Tom Petri. She embodies the best of Wisconsin’s rural, working class values. She’s the real thing. She went on to Marquette Law School where she continues to give back to Marquette as an adjunct law professor.
As a highly skilled trial attorney, Kegel could have chosen to work for a large corporate law firm and earn the big bucks, but devoted her skills and energy instead to defending those who can’t afford a lawyer but still deserve fairness and equal justice. Kegel lives in the Riverwest neighborhood and has worked for the past 10 years as a public defender in Waukesha County.
With the murder of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, we are experiencing a re-awakening of the need for greater social justice in our country. Part of that movement requires the election of judges who have a real understanding of the obstacles that many of us experience because of poverty, tough neighborhoods, lack of good educational opportunities and racial discrimination. As a judge, Kegel will be respectful of all those who come before her court and will work to apply the law to make sure everyone gets a fair trial regardless of their position in the community.
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