State Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley (left), Circuit Court Judge Joe Donald (center) and Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg are facing off in the Feb. 16 state Supreme Court primary. The three appeared Wednesday at a forum in Milwaukee.The top two vote-getters in the primary will advance to the April 5 general election. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

SHARE

By of the

Two judges trying to unseat a freshly appointed member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court warned Wednesday that partisan politics are destroying the integrity of the court, while the incumbent stuck to her script about applying the law as the Legislature intended.

The three candidates appeared together for the first time at a lunchtime forum hosted by the Milwaukee Bar Association.

A primary on Feb. 16 will decide who among incumbent Rebecca Bradley, JoAnne Kloppenburg and Joseph Donald will make it to the general election April 5. All seek a 10-year term to replace Justice N. Patrick Crooks, who died in September.

Each made opening statements before taking questions from audience members, mostly lawyers and judges, submitted to the moderator.

Kloppenburg, who lost a very close challenge of Justice David Prosser in 2011, is now presiding on the District 4 Court of Appeals in Madison, having been elected without opposition to an open seat in 2012. She spent the first 23 years of her legal career as an assistant attorney general.

Kloppenburg said the breadth and length of experience makes her best to do "justice without fear or favor" and "stand up to special interests."

Donald was appointed a Milwaukee County circuit judge by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1996 and has been re-elected without opposition ever since. He helped develop the county's drug court and served as its first judge, and currently hears homicide and sexual assault cases.

He said the election is important to restore integrity at the high court and that without a new independent, "we're stuck with an ideologue on the court for the next 30 years," referring to Bradley.

Bradley was appointed to the Supreme Court in October to replace Crooks after he died in his chambers in September. It was her third judicial appointment by Gov. Scott Walker in three years, including to the Court of Appeals in May and to the circuit court in November 2012. A former litigator with a large law firm, she has been a darling of conservatives and enjoyed support from the Republican party.

She said she welcomes support from anyone who offers it, and pledged to run "a positive and nonpartisan" campaign.

Kloppenburg said she would accept campaign funds from any groups except political parties. Donald joked no political action committees have offered him any money, proving he's the true independent candidate. He got more laughs when he noted the seating arrangement, "I have one candidate on my right," referring to Bradley, "and one on my left," Kloppenburg.

Bradley defended the demeanor of the current court, saying that in her short experience all the justices have been collegial and professional, characteristics Bradley said she has displayed in her varied legal practice.

Donald, the first in his family to attend college, said he has had to overcome racial, economic and cultural differences during his career. He said that skill set would help him restore more civility to the often-fractious court.

"We need to convince the people it's their court, not Governor Walker's court, not the Republican Party's court, not the Club for Growth's court," Donald said.

So far, the candidates' campaigns report raising between $200,000 and $300,000 by the end of 2015, with Kloppenburg leading at $278,447, Donald at $250,657 and Bradley at $229,870.