Gretchen Schuldt
Court Watch

Justice Ziegler, 37 Judges Unopposed

Just 11 of 48 Circuit Court judges face opponents in April Election

By , Wisconsin Justice Initiative - Jan 4th, 2017 11:34 am
Annette Ziegler

Annette Ziegler

There are no contested seats on the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court, and there are 11 contested seats among the 48 circuit court seats up for election, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission filings.

In Milwaukee County, there will be only one contested race. Scott A. Wales and Kashoua Kristy Yang will face off for the Branch 47 seat being vacated by John Siefert. No one is running against Michelle Ackerman Havas, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Scott Walker in 2015, lost her seat to Circuit Judge Jean Kies last spring, and is running this year for the seat vacated by Timothy G. Dugan, appointed by Walker to the Court of Appeals.

Incumbent Circuit Judges Maxine A. White, Michael J. Hanrahan, Paul Van Grunsven, Mary E. Triggiano, Pedro Colon, Dennis R. Cimpl, Cynthia Davis, Carl Ashley, Frederick C. Rosa, and Jeffrey Kremers all are unopposed.

Incumbent Dane County Circuit Judge Clayton Kawski, a Walker appointee, did not file nomination papers or a  statement of non-candidacy, according to the election commission. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Kawski’s failure to act means the deadline to file nomination papers will be extended by three days, per state law. Kawski is not allowed to file during that time, but other candidates can.

Here are the candidates who filed nomination papers by the 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

  • Supreme Court: Annette K. Ziegler (inc.)
  • Court of Appeals District 1: William W. Brash III (inc.)
  • Court of Appeals District 2: Brian K. Hagedorn (inc.)
  • Court of Appeals District 4: Rock County Circuit Judge Michael R. Fitzpatrick (Incumbent Paul B. Higginbotham not seeking re-election)
  • Burnett County Circuit Court: Melissia R. Mogen, David Grindell (office is vacant)
  • Columbia County Circuit Court Branch 2:  W. Andrew Voigt (inc.)
  • Dane County Circuit Court  Branch 9: Richard G. Niess (inc.)
  • Dane County Circuit Court Branch 12: Marilyn Townsend, Jill J. Karofsky (incumbent is Clayton Kawski)
  • Dodge County Circuit Court Branch 2: Martin J. De Vries (inc.), Todd A. Snow, Randall E. Doyle
  • Door County Circuit Court  Branch 2: David L. Weber, (inc.)
  • Fond du Lac County Circuit Court Branch 5: Robert Wirtz (inc.)
  • Grant County Circuit Court Branch 1: Robert P. VanDeHey (inc.)
  • Green Lake County Circuit Court: Mark Slate (inc.)
  • Iron County Circuit Court: Patrick J. Madden (inc.)
  • Jefferson County Circuit Court Branch 4: Bennett J. Brantmeier (Incumbent Randy R. Koschnick is not seeking re-election)
  • Kenosha County Circuit Court Branch 4: Anthony G. Milisauskas (inc.)
  • Kenosha County Circuit Court Branch 7: Jodi L. Meier (inc.), John Anthony Ward
  • Manitowoc County Circuit Court Branch 3: Patricia Ann Koppa, Donald J. Chewning, Bob Dewane (incumbent Jerome L. Fox is not seeking re-election)
  • Marathon County Circuit Court Branch 4: Gregory J. Strasser (inc.)
  • Marathon County Circuit Court Branch 5: Michael K. Moran (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 1: Maxine A. White (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 4: Michael J. Hanrahan (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 9: Paul Van Grunsven (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 10: Michelle Ackerman Havas, Timothy G. Dugan (inc.) (Dugan has been named to a District 1 Court of Appeals seat and will not seek re-election to his circuit court seat)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 13: Mary E. Triggiano (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 18: Pedro A. Colon (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 19: Dennis R. Cimpl (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 21: Cynthia Davis (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 33: Carl Ashley, (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 35: Frederick C. Rosa (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 35: Jeffrey Kremers (inc.)
  • Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 47: Scott Alan Wales, Kashoua Kristy Yang (incumbent John Siefert is not seeking re-election)
  • Oconto County Circuit Court Branch 1: Michael T. Judge (inc.)
  • Outagamie County Circuit Court Branch 1: Mark J. McGinnis (inc.)
  • Polk County Circuit Court Branch 1: Malia Theresa Malone, Daniel J. Tolan, David D. Danielson (seat is vacant)
  • Polk County Circuit Court Branch 2: Jeff Anderson (inc.)
  • Racine County Circuit Court Branch 3: Emily S. Mueller (inc.)
  • Rock County Circuit Court Branch 6: John M. Wood (inc.)
  • Sheboygan County Circuit Court Branch 2: Kent Hoffmann (inc.)
  • Sheboygan County Circuit Court Branch 3: Angela W. Sutkiewicz (inc)
  • Sheboygan County Circuit Court Branch 5: Daniel J. Borowski (inc.)
  • Trempeleau County Circuit Court: Rian Radtke, Rick Schaumberg, Charles V. Feltes (inc.)
  • Vernon County Circuit Court: Timonthy J. Gaskell, Darcy Rood (incumbent Michael J. Rosborough is not seeking re-election)
  • Washington County Circuit Court Branch 1: James G. Pouros (inc.)
  • Washington County Circuit Court Branch 3: Todd K. Martens (inc.), Robert T. Olson.
  • Waukesha County Circuit Court Branch 3: Ralph M. Ramirez (inc.)
  • Waukesha County Circuit Court Branch 4: Lloyd V. Carter (inc.)
  • Waukesha County Circuit Court Branch 11: William Domina (inc.)
  • Waupaca County Circuit Court Branch 1: Troy L. Nielsen, Eric Daniel Hendrickson, Dennis Krueger (incumbent is Philip M. Kirk)
  • Waushara County Circuit Court: Guy Dutcher (inc.)
  • Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 2: Scott C. Woldt (inc.)
  • Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 6: Daniel J. Bissett (inc.)

Gretchen Schuldt writes a blog for Wisconsin Justice Initiative, whose mission is “To improve the quality of justice in Wisconsin by educating the public about legal issues and encouraging civic engagement in and debate about the judicial system and its operation.”

Categories: Court Watch, Politics

4 thoughts on “Court Watch: Justice Ziegler, 37 Judges Unopposed”

  1. Mike Carey says:

    The gop and its deep pocket donors have a stranglehold on our judiciary. They own thwm. They are not going to give up that influence. They are willing to spend as much as possible to make sure the laws are always on their side. Whether it makes any sense or not. The wealthy own the law.

  2. John Doe says:

    Outagamie County Circuit Court Branch 1: Mark J. McGinnis (inc.) – This guy is heartless, using the justice system to better his resume at the costs of many of his victims before him. He acts like he is a power hungry coked up dude with a college degree in being a major @$$. Please stop this man from continuing his office, elect elsewhere or eject him out of office. Anti-vote +1

  3. Gregory says:

    This is one toxic swamp indeed! Get some attention on the problems here would be nice to bring to the public attention; plenty of information already out there and more could easily come out with the right people coming together.

  4. pmgroth says:

    wow, not update or any info at all on candidates for Branch 47…..since the candidates are all listed on sample ballots, it would have been interesting, instead of a list, to have info on the only two candidates that are running against each other

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us