Rebecca Bradley and JoAnn Kloppenburg advanced to the Wisconsin Supreme Court general election on April 5. Bradley edged Kloppenburg, 45% to 43%, to take first place in the primary. Joe Donald came in a distant third place with only 12% of the vote.
Bradley was appointed to the state’s highest court in October of last year to replace Justice N. Patrick Crooks who died unexpectedly. Before her appointment to the state’s highest court, Bradley was appointed to a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judgeship in 2012 and won a re-election to the position in May 2013. Walker again promoted Bradley with an appointment to the First District Court of Appeals in May of 2015. Before serving as a judge, Bradley served as in-house counsel at the software company, RedPrarie Corp. and worked at the law firms Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek and Hinshaw & Culbertson.
Joanne Kloppenburg ran for the Supreme Court in 2011, in which she narrowly lost the race to Justice David Prosser. Kloppenburg went on to be elected to the District 4 Court of Appeals in Madison.
Bradley has received the backing of conservative groups, while Kloppenburg and Donald received the support of liberal organizations. All candidates, however, have argued they are independent and nonpartisan in their interpretation and application of the law.
The general election will be held Tuesday, April 5.