Ted Bobrow

Abrahamson and Evers, Don’t Leave it to Chance

By - Apr 1st, 2009 08:34 am

If you’re reading this, you probably know that there is an election in Wisconsin next Tuesday.

Turnout for these Spring elections tends to be notoriously low which is never a good thing for democracy.

Yet the candidates for the two statewide races present critical differences in experience and philosophy and the choices that voters make will have an enormous impact on Wisconsin’s future.

We will select someone to serve on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court for a ten-year term and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction who will guide state oversight of education for the next four years.

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson is a nationally respected jurist who deserves reelection. Her tenure on the court has set a standard for judicial excellence, not only in terms of her decisions but also for her administrative acumen which has expanded openness and efficiency.

Her opponent is an unabashed conservative who is asking for your support based on his ideology.

This is the third year in a row that the voters are being asked to choose between two very different candidates for a seat on the state’s highest court.

Conservatives and business groups have succeeded in the past two, more egregiously last year when Michael Gableman engaged in an ethically challenged, despicable campaign to defeat incumbent Louis Butler.

Gableman’s defense to the charges he faces about the distortions in his ads is that the First Amendment protects political advertisements as free speech. It’s not very reassuring when a judge sitting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court claims that the Constitution gives him the right to say anything he wants regardless of its truth or any ethical standard set by a judicial commission.

But it shouldn’t be necessary to rehash the elections of the past when discussing Shirley Abrahamson. She has earned your vote.

And then there’s the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction between longtime education professional Tony Evers and another ideologue, Rose Fernandez.

Evers has served as a teacher and administrator for decades and has helped improve the working relationship between the state and local school districts.

Fernandez has no experience in education other than as a supporter for alternatives to public education. She also wants to replace Milwaukee’s elected school board with an appointed board.

If you care about public education, especially in Milwaukee, the choice is clear. Vote for Tony Evers.

There are also local court and school board elections that deserve your attention.

So get out and vote on April 7th. Your vote matters especially during the low turnout Spring election.

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