Next Tuesday Wisconsin voters will be voting on a new state Supreme Court justice and in this article for the Hudson Star-Observer the two candidates for the position present their platforms on a couple of subjects, including the way in which campaigns for the Wisconsin court are financed.

Christine Bremmer Muggli of the Wisconsin Association for Justice (a trial lawyers group) writes in favor of the Impartial Justice bill currently sitting in the state Assembly that would let candidates for the state Supreme Court run for office using public financing (similar to programs in North Carolina and New Mexico) and help control the spending, and partisanship, of judicial elections.

The Daily Cardinal, the student paper for the University of Wisconsin at Madison lends its support to efforts to win full public financing for Wisconsin Supreme Court campaigns.

The Sheboygan Press rebuffs state Senator Joe Liebham for failing to support a bill passed last week in the Senate to offer a full public financing option for candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The paper notes that the program enjoys strong public support. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 23-10 and will now be considered by the Assembly.

Cool!  The Wisconsin Senate just passed a bill on a vote of 21-10 to create a full public financing program for state Supreme Court races, like the systems in North Carolina and New Mexico.  The bill now moves to the state Assembly.  

Joining the growing coalition of groups endorsing full public financing of Wisconsin Supreme Court races are AARP Wisconsin and the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, who have come out in favor of the Senate bill to offer a Clean Elections-style option to judicial candidates on the model of programs in North Carolina and New Mexico.