Neubauer announces run for state Supreme Court
MADISON - Wisconsin appeals court judge Lisa Neubauer on Thursday announced she will seek a seat on the state’s highest court and called on outside groups that typically spend heavily in Supreme Court contests to stay out of the race.
Neubauer, who oversees the state appeals court, is the first candidate to jump in next year’s race to replace retiring Justice Shirley Abrahamson on the state Supreme Court.
In an interview Thursday, Neubauer called on potential opponents to issue the same request to groups interested in spending to help get their preferred candidate elected.
“It’s really unfortunate that our independent courts are sort of treated as partisan playgrounds,” she said. “There’s nothing good about outside money — special interest money — coming in to influence court elections.”
The Racine judge, backed largely by Democrats, joins the race with a team that helped elect Milwaukee County Judge Rebecca Dallet to the Supreme Court just three months ago.
Dallet’s decisive win over a conservative-backed Sauk County judge injected a jolt of energy into state Democrats, who are seeking to recover from years of losses in the state Legislature and on the court, which is controlled by conservatives 4-3 with Dallet’s election.
But Neubauer said she doesn’t want voters to think they can predict how she would decide cases.
As chief judge of the Court of Appeals, Neubauer is the highest-ranking jurist in Wisconsin who is not on the Supreme Court. Before joining the court about 10 years ago, Neubauer worked as an attorney at Foley & Lardner law firm.
Also considering a potential run for the Supreme Court are Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, Waukesha County Judge Maria Lazar and state appeals judge and former legal counsel for Gov. Scott Walker Brian Hagedorn.