Litigation

Without Public Money, WI Court Candidate Lags

By Peter Hardin

The one candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court who is not taking newly available public financing is trailing far behind her three rivals in campaign receipts.

The campaign of attorney Marla Stephens has raised less than $38,000, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, compared to the $100,000 apiece received by incumbent Justice David Prosser, and attorneys Joel Winnig and JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Stephens is the only candidate of the four who is not expected to air a campaign ad on TV before the Feb. 15 primary. The other three candidates have begun airing TV ads.

In the first ad run in this campaign by an outside group, the Wisconsin Club for Growth has aired a spot that promotes Justice Prosser, although it does not tell people how to vote.

Under a new state law for public financing of state Supreme Court campaigns, candidates who advance from the primary will receive another $300,000 apiece for the general election.

To learn more about Wisconsin’s public financing law, check out these earlier Gavel Grab posts.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 08, 2011 (boomark / email).