Wisconsin judicial elections, 2011

Judicial Elections
Elections, 2011
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The Wisconsin judicial elections of 2011 consisted of a Spring Election on April 5, 2011 and a Spring Primary on February 15, 2011.

Overview

Offices up for election include one Supreme Court seat, two Court of Appeals seats, 41 Circuit Court seats, and over 100 Municipal Court seats.

Primaries

A statewide primary was held on February 15 for the office of Supreme Court Justice. There were also primary elections that day for the office of Circuit Court Judge in Columbia, Green Lake, Marathon, Milwaukee, Polk, Sheboygan and Winnebago counties.

Supreme Court

Results timeline

Kloppenburg declared victory on April 6, 2011. Her campaign issued the following statement:

"We owe Justice Prosser our gratitude for his more than 30 years of public service. Wisconsin voters have spoken and I am grateful for, and humbled by, their confidence and trust. I will be independent and impartial and I will decide cases based on the facts and the law. As I have traveled the State, people tell me they believe partisan politics do not belong in our Courts. I look forward to bringing new blood to the Supreme Court and focusing my energy on the important work Wisconsin residents elect Supreme Court justices to do."

Early on April 7, Kloppenburg was ahead by 311 votes, with five precincts still outstanding. Since her lead was only .02% of the total vote, a recount is expected. As votes continued to be collected, her lead lessened to 204 votes.

Later on April 7, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus revealed that, due to human error, she had failed to include 14,315 votes from the city of Brookfield in her unofficial vote tally. With those and some other smaller errors in unofficial vote reports, Prosser gained a 7,582 lead, and a margin that may be large enough that a free recount is no longer available to the candidates. If the percentage between the Prosser and Kloppenburg is 0.5% between and 2%, the party requesting a recount must pay $5 per ward.

On April 11, 2011 the Democratic canvasser who had worked the Waukesha County ballot canvas and was quoted as saying that "We went over everything and made sure all the numbers jibed up and they did. Those numbers jibed up, and we're satisfied they're correct" issued a statement indicating that she did not in fact understand if the numbers she looked over were accurate. She added, "I am 80 years old and I don't understand anything about computers." These revelations seem to cast doubt on the notion that it was "human error" that led to the recovery of 14,315 votes from the city of Brookfield. Votes are expected to be verified by the state by April 15.

To learn more about the recount process in Wisconsin, read: The Morning After: If the results are close, what happens next in Wisconsin?

On April 15 the statewide vote canvass was completed. It showed Prosser as the race's victor, with 7,316 votes over Kloppenburg. A recount may still be requested by the Kloppenburg campaign, which has until April 20, 2011 to make that request.

State officials are waiting to certify the vote count until the recount request deadline passes. The state would pay the costs related to a recount, since the margin between the two candidates is less than half of a percent.

The Prosser campaign declared victory on April 15 with the following statement:

"Today, the will of the electorate is clear with the last canvas now completed and Justice David Prosser re-elected to another 10 year term to the Supreme Court. Justice Prosser extends his appreciation and respect to Joanne Kloppenburg and her spirited campaign. With certified results in‐hand, Justice Prosser hopes that a shared respect for the judiciary allows the campaign to move to a positive conclusion. Justice Prosser looks forward to thanking the voters of Wisconsin and is expected make a public address in the near‐future."

On April 20 Kloppenburg requested a recount of the votes, citing "widespread anomalies".

On May 20 the recount concluded that Prosser defeated Kloppenburg by 7,006 votes.

Candidates

The staff at Judgepedia is currently working hard to develop our election pages and insure that we satisfy the needs of our interested readers. This page is still being developed and candidate lists are still being populated. If you would like to assist with elections, please contact: User:Matticus.

Court of Appeals

The District III vote will be on the ballots in the counties of Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Door, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Florence, Forest, Iron, Kewaunee, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Oneida, Outagamie, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Price, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer, Shawano, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vilas and Washburn.

The staff at Judgepedia is currently working hard to develop our election pages and insure that we satisfy the needs of our interested readers. This page is still being developed and candidate lists are still being populated. If you would like to assist with elections, please contact: User:Matticus.

The District IV vote will appear on the ballots in the counties of Adams, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marquette, Monroe, Portage, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Vernon, Waupaca, Waushara and Wood.

The following is a list of candidates for the Court of Appeals District IV 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KloppenburgJoAnne Kloppenburg	No	District IV		49.70%   D
HigginbothamPaul Higginbotham   A	Yes	District IV		A

Circuit Courts

There are 41 circuit court seats up for election in 2011. Only nine of the 41 seats will have a race with more than one candidate. Primary elections were required in Columbia, Green Lake, Marathon, Milwaukee, Polk, Sheboygan and Winnebago counties.

Of seven judges who were appointed to the courts in 2010, six are running for election to retain their seat. (Robert Hawley is not.) Of those six, only three have challengers: Pedro Colón, Angela Sutkiewicz and Kathleen Stilling. Three appointees, James G. Pouros, Todd K. Martens and William Domina, are running for their first election uncontested.

Fond du Lac County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Fond du Lac County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
WirtzRobert Wirtz   A	Yes	Branch 5		96.84%   A

Grant County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Grant County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Van De HeyRobert Van De Hey   A	Yes	Branch 1		100%   A

Green Lake County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Green Lake County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SelsingJohn B. Selsing	No	Branch 2
SlateMark Slate   A	No			53%   A
WilsnackJon R. Wilsnack	No			46.4%   D

Iron County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Iron County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
MaddenPatrick J. Madden   A	Yes			100%   A

Langlade County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Langlade County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KawalskiFred Kawalski   A	Yes			100%   A

Oconto County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Oconto County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
JudgeMichael Judge   A	Yes	Branch 1		99.8%   A

Polk County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Polk County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
AndersonJeff Anderson   A	No	Branch 2		51.3%   A
SteffenDaniel Patrick Steffen	No	Branch 2		48.6%   D
RennickeJames Jay Rennicke	No	Branch 2

Vernon County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Vernon County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
RosboroughMichael Rosborough   A	Yes			A

Waushara County Circuit Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Waushara County Circuit Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
DutcherGuy Dutcher   A	Yes	Branch 2		99.6%   A

Municipal Courts

There were 110 candidates running for Municipal Courts.

Barron County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Barron County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SchulerRobb A. Schuler   A	No			A

Brown County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Brown County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
WickertGary A. Wickert   A	Yes	City of Ashwaubenon		99.6%   A
TeegeCharles L. Teege   A	Yes	City of Denmark		99.1%   A
BetleyRobert S. Betley   A	Yes	City of Pulaski		99.6%   A
RathburnKevin A. Rathburn   A	Yes	City of Suamico		99.6%   A

Calumet County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Calumet County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Van FrachenJean Van Frachen   A	Yes	City of Brillion		98.3%   A

Chippewa County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Chippewa County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Carothers-HaryckiMindy M. Carothers-Harycki   A	Yes	City of Cornell		98.8%   A

Columbia County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Columbia County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
LeichsenringJesse L. Leichsenring   A	No	City of Wisconsin Dells		56.4%   A
PulsfusDaniel Pulsfus   A	Yes	City of Portage		99.2%   A
BreunigWilliam M. Breunig   A	Yes	Multi-Jurisdictional		99.1%   A
BublitzDebra J. Bublitz	No	City of Wisconsin Dells
PlaymanMarc T. Playman	No	City of Wisconsin Dells		43.2%   D

Dane County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Dane County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
OldsJames S. Olds   A	Yes	Towns of Madison and Middleton		A
SiegDennis J. Sieg   A	Yes	Multi-Jurisdictional		A
SchneiderRobert H. Schneider   A	Yes	Town of Dunn		A
MilsapRandi W. Milsap   A	Yes	Multi-Jurisdictional		A
GilpinBeth S. Gilpin   A	Yes	Town and Village of Oregon		64.1%   A
EzalarabHamby Ezalarab   A	Yes	City of Fitchburg		A
EndresPhil H. Endres   A	Yes	Town of Mazomanie		A
CoxBeth L. Cox   A	Yes	Town and Village of Oregon		64.1%   A
FloeterDaniel M. Floeter	No	Town and Village of Oregon		35.6%   D
HansonJason J. Hanson   A	No	Town of Windsor/Village of DeForest		A
BerndtRobert W. Berndt	No	Town of Sun Prairie		35.7%   D
HeblThomas L. Hebl   A	Yes	Town of Sun Prairie		64%   A

Dodge County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Dodge County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
WegnerJames R. Wegner   A		Multi-Jurisdictional		99.5%   A
PetersKenneth J. Peters   A	Yes	City and Town of Beaver Dam		98.9%   A
HuettlLarry Huettl   A	Yes	City of Fox Lake		100%   A

Eau Claire County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Eau Claire County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SchroederEugene Schroeder   A		City of Augusta		99%   A

Fond du Lac County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Fond du Lac County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
JayeJerome J. Jaye   A		Multi-Jurisdictional		100%   A

Manitowoc County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Manitowoc County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
BoergerRobert Boerger   A		City of Schleswig		100%   A

Marathon County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Marathon County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KlingbergDouglas J. Klingberg   A		Town of Rothschild		50.9%   A
CveykusDaniel T. Cveykus	Yes	Town of Kronenwetter		48.9%   D
WeirauchKristine Weirauch   A		Town and Village of Weston, City of Schofield		99.2%   A

Marinette County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Marinette County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
GreeneCarl W. Greene   A	Yes	Town of Crivitz		100%   A
MercierCarl D. Mercier   A	Yes	City of Marinette		A
MajcenMark G. Majcen   A	Yes	Town of Silver Cliff		100%   A
StichmannCatherine C. Stichmann   A	Yes	Town of Stephenson		A
RettkeArthur J. Rettke	No	Multi-Jurisdictional		45.5%   D
SternJoseph P. Stern	No	Multi-Jurisdictional
Medrow, Sr.Thomas E. Medrow, Sr.   A	Yes	Multi-Jurisdictional		54.2%   A

Milwaukee County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Milwaukee County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SonntagJennine T. Sonntag   A	Yes	Town of Hales Corners		55%   A
MurphyPaul M. Murphy   A	Yes	Town of West Allis		A
MosleyDerek Mosley   A	Yes	City of Milwaukee		98.8%   A
ChristensenPaul D. Christensen   A	Yes	Town of Whitefish Bay		A
ChavezPhil Chavez   A	Yes	City of Milwaukee		98.6%   A
Liska, Jr.Frank L. Liska, Jr.	No	Town of Hales Corners		45%   D

Oconto County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Oconto County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KurekDouglas A. Kurek   A	Yes	City of Whitefish Bay		A

Outagamie County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Outagamie County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SchumannGerald C. Schumann   A	Yes	Village of Kimberly		A
Cotter IIJames A. Cotter II	No			D
Mazuroski, Jr.John J. Mazuroski, Jr.   A	Yes	Multi-Jurisdictional		A

Polk County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Polk County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
CutlerPriscilla R. Dorn Cutler   A	No	Villages of Osceola and Dresser		A

Racine County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Racine County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
PurperoJoseph M. Purpero   A	Yes	Town of Raymond		A
BartaRichard Barta   A	Yes	Towns of Dover and Yorkville		70.6%   A
KnutesonJohn W. Knuteson   A	Yes	Villages of North Bay and Wind Point		79.5%   A
MillerGregory K. Miller   A	Yes	Village of Waterford		68.6%   A
MitchellJill A. Mitchell   A	Yes	Town of Waterford		62.8%   A
NiemiecRobert E. Niemiec   A	Yes	Town of Sturtevant		63.8%   A
PachuckiDouglas P. Pachucki   A	Yes	Town of Norway		63.8%   A
PhegleyMichael Phegley   A	Yes	Villages of Mt. Pleasant and Elmwood Park		A
ReichertMelanie K. Reichert   A	No	Village of Union Grove		52.8%   A
KoenenRod J. Koenen	Yes	Village of Union Grove		31.5%   D

Richland County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Richland County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
GannonJohn D. Gannon   A	Yes	Villages of Viola and Readstown		A

Rock County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Rock County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
DikkeboomHenry J. Dikkeboom   A	Yes	Town of Milton		A
FoltsPerry L. Folts   A	Yes	Town of Turtle		A
HollandMichael W. Holland   A	Yes	City of Beloit		A
KoefflerKristen Koeffler   A	Yes	City of Milton		A
MillerTerry N. Miller   A	Yes	Town of Orfordville		A

Sauk County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Sauk County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
PulsfusDwight W. Pulsfus   A	Yes	Villages of Prairie de Sac and Sauk City		A

Sheboygan County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Sheboygan County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
MooneyMatthew P. Mooney   A	Yes	Town of Plymouth		A
SonnenburgWilliam K. Sonnenburg	No	City of Sheboygan and Village of Kohler		49%   D
DelahuntCatherine Quirk Delahunt	Yes	Branch 3		49.7%   D

St. Croix County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the St. Croix County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
WopatBen A. Wopat   A	Yes	Town of North Hudson		99.4%   A
NemecBrad T. Nemec   A	Yes	Town of Somerset		99%   A
KeatingRenee Keating   A	Yes	Town of New Richmond		73.6%   A
Don S. Lepper		Town of New Richmond

Vilas County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Vilas County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
EalesKenneth L. Eales   A	Yes	Town of Manitowish Waters		A

Walworth County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Walworth County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
FarnsworthRoger D. Farnsworth   A	Yes	Town of Darien		96.8%   A
KellyRichard C. Kelly   A	Yes	Town of Whitewater		98.1%   A
KingPeter B. King   A	Yes	Town of Linn		99.2%   A
MeyerThomas F. Meyer   A	Yes	Town of Elkhorn		98.7%   A
PetersonJohn W. Peterson   A	Yes	City of Walworth		98.87%   A
SibbingHenry A. Sibbing   A	Yes	Town of Lake Geneva		98.2%   A
ThompsonEd Thompson   A	Yes	Town of Delavan		A
WilliamsDavid B. Williams   A	Yes	Town of Williams Bay		98.2%   A
HeidelmeierDaniel J. Heidelmeier   A	Yes	Town of East Troy		99%   A

Washington County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The staff at Judgepedia is currently working hard to develop our election pages and insure that we satisfy the needs of our interested readers. This page is still being developed and candidate lists are still being populated. If you would like to assist with elections, please contact: User:Matticus.

Waukesha County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Waukesha County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
MurrayMelissa B. Murray   A	Yes	Town of Pewaukee		A
DutcherLaurie B. Dutcher   A	Yes	Town of Lannon		A
SteinleW. Timothy Steinle   A	Yes	Town of Elm Grove		A
BenjaminRoger D. Benjamin   A	Yes	Town of Butler		A

Waupaca County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Waupaca County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
BerndtDeborah C. Berndt	No			46%   D
JuedsJames L. Jueds   A	Yes	Multi-Jurisdictional		54%   A

Winnebago County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Winnebago County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KachinskyLeonard D. Kachinsky   A	Yes	Town of Menasha		A
FischerEdward W. Fischer	No	Multi-Jurisdictional		49.3%   D
BakerPaul M. Baker   A	No	Multi-Jurisdictional		50.6%   A

Wood County Municipal Court, Wisconsin

The following is a list of candidates for the Wood County Municipal Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	Ward	Primary Vote	Election Vote
RoweRobert Rowe   A	Yes	Town of Nekoosa		A
KaneJohn A. Kruse   A	Yes	Town of Marshfield		A

See also

• Wisconsin judicial elections
• Judicial elections, 2011
• Judicial selection in Wisconsin
• Campaign finance requirements for Wisconsin judicial elections

External links

• Governmental Accountability Board
• GAB Calendar
• GAB 2011 Elections Memo
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Candidates for spring 2011 state and local elections"
• Offices to be elected at 2011 spring election, info dated 11/15/10
• Government Accountability Board, 2011 Elections Memo

References