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Madison -- Opponents of state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser have tried to paint him as an ally of Gov. Scott Walker as they try to defeat him in Tuesday's election.

Prosser has disputed that characterization, saying he is independent. But Walker's chief counsel, Brian Hagedorn sent an e-mail on the eve of the election urging people to vote for Prosser, saying keeping him on the court is essential to advancing Walker's agenda.

Here's an excerpt from the e-mail, which Hagedorn sent from a personal account around 10:30 p.m. Monday:

"If Justice Prosser loses:

* The Supreme Court will shift from a 4-3 conservative majority to a 4-3 liberal majority.

* Governor Walker's agenda could be stopped in its tracks by this new activist majority.

* Union bosses and their allies will be emboldened and further push to recall the brave Senators who voted for Governor Walker's budget repair bill.

* (Chief Justice) Shirley Abrahamson and her allies will continue to drag down the reputation of the Court, with an additional vote to further push through their radical agenda."

The Supreme Court is widely expected to ultimately decide the fate of Walker's budget repair bill, which includes a measure to dramatically scale back collective bargaining for public workers. The bill has become a major focus of the race, in which Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg is challenging Prosser.

Hagedorn said he sent the e-mail from his home computer and no one asked him to send it. Hagedorn, a former clerk to Justice Michael Gableman, described Prosser as a friend in the e-mail.

He said the e-mail was sent to some of his contacts in his personal address book, but he did not know exactly how many people he sent it to.