New Justice is not guilty.
Posted on 04/06/2016 7:00:34 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana
Rebecca Bradley elected to state Supreme Court From the Wisconsin 2016 spring election series
WAUWATOSA — Justice Rebecca Bradley was elected Tuesday to a 10-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating state Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg in a bitter, highly charged race.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Bradley held a decisive lead over Kloppenburg, who made her second unsuccessful run for a seat on the state’s highest court.
Bradley told supporters at a election night party in Wauwatosa that she drew strength during the campaign from her fiance who, during tough moments of the spring campaign, quoted Winston Churchill.
“When you’re going through hell, keep going,” she said. Bradley also congratulated Kloppenburg for a “hard-fought campaign.”
Kloppenburg conceded defeat to a small gathering at The Brink Lounge in Madison after calling Bradley to congratulate her.
“Although I lost this race, I will never lose sight of the promise of the American system of justice,” she said, with her husband and three children standing behind her.
Thanking her supporters, Kloppenburg said, “We ran a campaign that was fair, truthful and respectful. We did all that we set out to do -- except for the coming-out-ahead part. It is not the outcome that you and I hoped for, not the outcome we worked so hard for, but it is the outcome of the democratic process.”
Bradley, 44, appointed to her seat last fall by Gov. Scott Walker, is seeking the job permanently. Kloppenburg. 62, is making her second run for the Supreme Court after losing a narrow race to Justice David Prosser in 2011.
The race, officially nonpartisan but typically -- like the court itself -- split along ideological lines, has been marked by millions of dollars in television ad spending, most of it from the conservative group Wisconsin Alliance for Reform in seeking to help Bradley’s candidacy.
It has also featured:
Pitched debate over Walker’s role in appointing Bradley to the court -- the third time in three years the governor placed Bradley in a judicial role. Questions about Kloppenburg’s ties to liberals -- presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both advocated a vote for her. And criticism over Bradley’s 1992 college-era writings in which she called AIDS patients and homosexuals degenerates, compared abortion to the Holocaust and slavery, and wrote that an author legitimately suggested women play a role in date rape. Bradley has repeatedly apologized for what she wrote about AIDS patients and homosexuals as a Marquette University student.
Bradley also cited Churchill in saying, “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at with no result.” Photos: Rebecca Bradley celebrates Supreme Court win with supporters
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Rebecca Bradley celebrated her electoral victory Tuesday night with supporters at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Wauwatosa.
Both candidates said during the campaign that they would fairly and equally apply the law. But Bradley aligned herself with a more conservative interpretation of legal theory while liberals were lining up being Kloppenburg.
With the Supreme Court election falling on the same day as the state’s presidential primary, Democratic presidential candidates used campaign stops as opportunities to urge their supporters to vote against Bradley.
At Bradley’s election night party, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said she thinks Bradley would have faced a tougher race if the presidential primary had not bolstered turnout on the Republican side.
“For an ordinary spring race, she would have had a tougher time because the special interests were so determined to take her out,” said Darling, referring to the unearthing of opinion columns Bradley wrote as a college student by liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now.
Kloppenburg’s campaign manager, Melissa Mulliken said the higher turnout for the Republican presidential primary probably worked against Kloppenburg. Photos: JoAnne Kloppenburg addresses supporters after Supreme Court loss
Judge Joanne Kloppenburg spoke to supporters at The Brink Lounge in Madison following her loss to Justice Rebecca Bradley in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race Tuesday.
This was Kloppenburg’s second try for a high court seat. In 2011, she challenged incumbent David Prosser and lost a close race, with 49.7 percent of the vote.
Mulliken said she doesn’t know of any plan for Kloppenburg to run again for the state Supreme Court. But, she added, “Never say never.”
Bradley spent most of her career as a private-sector lawyer handling business and other civil cases. Walker first named her to the circuit court in Milwaukee three years ago, and then to the state appeals court.
When Walker appointed Bradley to the state Supreme Court last fall after the death of N. Patrick Crooks, critics said it would give her an unfair advantage in the race for the permanent seat. She was already a candidate at the time of the appointment.
Kloppenburg has spent most of her time in the public arena as an assistant attorney general and doing environmental work and has been a state appeals court judge for three years.
Kloppenburg told her supporters she looks forward to continuing to serve on the appeals court.
“The campaign may be over but our commitment to make the courts better isn’t done,” she said.
WIS. SUPREME COURT Candidates
3,848 of 3,852 precincts reporting Votes Pct. Bradley 1,008,970 52.4% Kloppenburg 917,357 47.6%
The Crap Times held off on calling this race for as long as they could. They’re feeling quite microagressed this morning.
I know nothing about Bradley, but did follow the Kloppenberg/Prosser race in 2011. She was such a scummy candidate, and the outrage that erupted when the true vote count came out AFTER the Democrats crafted their razor-thin “victor” revealed a LOT more about the corruption of Democrat-run elections.
I’m inclined to believe this race was the best possible outcome.
I remember that last race and how she tried to turn it into a referendum on Walker. How many more tries will this evil wench get for her thirst for power?
Thank you WI voters for taking a bold stand yesterday not giving into intimidation, threats and insults.
Kloppenberg's comment:
“Although I lost this race, I will never lose sight of the promise of the American system of justice,”
I'm sure that she is equally enamored of Stalin's and Mao's system of justice, in fact she hoped to model Wisconsin's after them.
Good advice, but as far as being a Churchill quote it's apocryphal.
I was so glad to see Bradley win this race last night. It took forever for them to finally call the race for Bradley, though she led the entire night as results came in.
Cruz Coat Tails?
Oh jeez, really. What are you guys going to say the next three weeks after you get shellacked primary after primary. Delusional, not just ...Grey space aliens are landing tomorrow delusional, but scary out of touch, repeating mantras, cultish delusional. Cruz is not going to be the nominee in ANY scenario, not at the convention, not reaching 1237 delegates, not if Jesus himself came down from a cloud and anointed him. Face the facts, reality here, implore Cruz to drop out with email and in social media, join forces with Trump and save the damn country.
Republican coat tail wins Trump voters voted for Bradley too
52/48. A win is a win.
And I can read about them in the same newspaper where I see the rest of the Trump news releases...
I have met and visited with Justice Bradley. She’s charming, intelligent, fair. Congrats to her.
New Justice is not guilty.
Yowza! What creature is that on the right panel of the image? Holy crap! She is as ugly as her ideology is!
Good advice, but as far as being a Churchill quote it’s apocryphal.
Word of the day award!
Praise The LORD for her win!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.