Litigation

Air Wars Looming in WI Court Race

By Peter Hardin

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFNGfOwT3Qg

Are the air wars starting in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race?

According to a Politico article, the Issues Mobilization Council of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce states in a fundraising pitch that it “is launching a television ad campaign to counter the distortions from government unions and their allies about Justice [David] Prosser.”

A WMC ad captured by YouTube touts Justice Prosser as “protecting Wisconsin families” and drawing praise for his work from “more than 60 sheriffs and district attorneys.” It opens with apparent sounds of protesters shouting “kill the bill,” and a narrator exhorts, “Take a moment to look past the noise.”

The April 5 contest between Justice Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg has taken a higher profile in the aftermath of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s successful legislative effort to strip most public employees of collective bargaining rights.

WMC President and CEO James S. Haney warns in the pitch of efforts by labor unions to influence the makeup of the court through spending:

“The government worker unions are openly attempting to overturn the November elections, buying an activist majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and grinding our democracy to a halt because Governor Scott Walker has refused to raise taxes to balance the budget.”

The message says the Greater Wisconsin Committee, which it describes as a “a union front group,” has bought $3 million in TV ads to attack Justice Prosser with the expectation that Kloppenburg “will overturn collective bargaining reforms that control government spending and allow government flexibility….If Kloppenburg wins, a clear activist majority will be established on the court that could dramatically affect our business climate.”

Wisconsin emerged as one of the nation?s costliest judicial election states in 2007 and 2008. According to ?The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2000-2009: Decade of Change,? co-authored by Justice at Stake, the state saw a total of $8.5 million in election spending, ranking second nationally behind Pennsylvania. The explosion of special interest spending was led by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Greater Wisconsin Committee.

On Thursday, a state appeals court elected not to rule in a legal case challenging the collective bargaining legislation, and that fight “appears to be headed” to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

The latest legal development “puts a sharper focus” on the Supreme Court election, according to the MPR report. It was headlined, “Wisconsin Court Race Turns into a Political Dogfight.”

The Supreme Court race is officially nonpartisan. Justice Prosser is viewed as a conservative and part of a 4-3 majority on the court. A Kloppenburg victory could change the majority on the court; she is an assistant attorney general.

Both candidates are receiving public financing for their campaigns under a new state law aimed at reducing the influence of special interest spending in judicial elections. But outside interest groups now can “pick up the slack on the airwaves,” the MPR report said.

To learn about an ad already aired by The Greater Wisconsin Committee, check out Gavel Grab. For more about the Supreme Court race, check out these earlier Gavel Grab posts.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 25, 2011 (boomark / email).