Patrick Marley

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - State Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn lost his endorsement from the Wisconsin Realtors Association this week amid reports that he had founded a school that allows the expulsion of gay students.

The group also wants Hagedorn to return an $18,000 donation it made to him less than a month ago.

The Realtors association is a behind-the-scenes player in Wisconsin Supreme Court races that often backs conservatives like Hagedorn, an appeals judge.

"As a result of recent disclosures regarding past statements and actions by Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn, the Wisconsin Realtors Association has withdrawn its endorsement of his candidacy," said a statement this week from Michael Theo, the president and chief executive officer of the association.

"The real estate related issues that served as the basis for our endorsement have been overshadowed by other, non-real estate related issues — issues with which we do not want to be associated and that directly conflict with the principles of our organization and the values of our members."

RELATED:Supreme Court candidate Lisa Neubauer stopped listing business customers on ethics form years ago

RELATED:Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate founded school that allows ban on teachers, students and parents in gay relationships

The organization has never before revoked an endorsement for a Supreme Court candidate, Theo said.

Hagedorn faces Judge Lisa Neubauer in the April 2 election to replace retiring Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Hagedorn and Neubauer both sit on the District 2 Court of Appeals in Waukesha.

Hagedorn's campaign released a statement downplaying the withdrawn endorsement.

“Madison isn’t going to decide who sits on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the voters are," the statement said. "Lisa Neubauer and her liberal allies will do anything to take over the court, including attacks on people of faith."

Hagedorn has drawn attention in recent weeks for founding a Christian school in 2016 that allows the firing of teachers for being gay and the expulsion of students if they or their parents are gay.

As a law student in the mid-2000s, Hagedorn wrote blog posts that argued the U.S. Supreme Court striking down an anti-sodomy law could lead to the legalization of bestiality and contended gay pride month at his workplace created "a hostile work environment for Christians."

RELATED:Powerful personal stories cut through the politics of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race

RELATED:Court candidate Brian Hagedorn received more than $3,000 for speeches to legal organization dubbed hate group

Hagedorn was paid more $3,000 in recent years to give speeches to Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization. The alliance has supported criminalizing sodomy and unsuccessfully argued for European laws requiring transgender people to get sterilized to obtain identity documents listing the names and genders they wanted.

A victory by Hagedorn would widen the Supreme Court's conservative majority from 4-3 to 5-2. A victory by Neubauer would keep the court's current ideological makeup in place.

The Realtors association gave Hagedorn $18,000 in January and is asking for that money back, Theo said. Hagedorn campaign adviser Stephan Thompson said the campaign is "processing the request."

RELATED:Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn once wrote that gay rights ruling could lead to legalized bestiality

As Hagedorn lost the Realtors endorsement, he got a boost of support from Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester.

Vos told reporters he was confident Hagedorn could rule fairly on issues affecting gay people.

"I think every single person has to weigh what you do in your job," Vos said. "I think there are people who have been on the court who have been strongly pro-life and strongly pro-choice, there’s Catholics, there’s people of every different faith. And I don’t think that your faith should be a disqualifier because you actually hold to the tenets of what you believe because I think you can separate that."