Public Campaign - Wisconsin

For or Against

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:24:54 -0500

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.

Unlikely Alliance

Katie Schlieper — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:34:35 -0500

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.

Pass Wisconsin Judicial Bill

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:45:52 -0500

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.

Leaning Towards Support

Katie Schlieper — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:33:43 -0500

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.

Wisconsin Senate Passes Judicial Bill

Katie Schlieper — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:42:30 -0500

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.

AARP Is In

Katie Schlieper — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:10:41 -0500

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.

Appoint or Elect

Katie Schlieper — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:09:47 -0500

Jack R. DeWitt, an attorney in Madison, Wisconsin penned this letter to the editor of the Capital Times arguing against the appointment of judges, but for public financing of judicial races, to protect against candidates having to compromise their future performance on the bench just to win their race. Often the question of what do about increasingly partisan and expensive judicial races comes down to appointment vs. public financing. This is an interesting treatment of those two choices.

Come On, Governor

Katie Schlieper — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:19:14 -0500

Oh how the mighty stall. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) came out of the box strong last year on passing a full public financing program for judicial races, even calling a special session to consider that bill and a number of other campaign finance issues. However it would appear the wind has rather gone out of the sails. Though the Governor is still in support of public financing he's not putting his full weight behind it.

Small Steps

Katie Schlieper — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:29:42 -0500

Wisconsin has been moving closer to a public financing program for its judicial races and there's been talk of passing a similar system for legislative races. This editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says that public financing should be the ultimate goal, but there are intermediate steps to take in the meantime since public financing will be a "huge hurdle" for the legislature to clear.

On Wisconsin Radio

Katie Schlieper — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:47:57 -0500

Talk of campaign finance issues and proposals for full public financing of elections on WRN, the Wisconsin Radio Network last night. The story from Bob Hague and audio of the program is available here.