Judicial challengers fare well in Bar Association survey
It’s a very small sample, but in a survey of Milwaukee Bar Association members, the challengers in two contested judicial races fared well, while in a third, the incumbent earned better marks.
The survey asks the MBA’s members to rate all judges on the ballot as either qualified, not qualified or to indicate they have no opinion.
In the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky earned 219 qualified votes to Justice Daniel Kelly’s 120, while he attracted 123 not qualified to Karofsky’s 45. She had 33 no opinions to Kelly’s 41.
In the Branch 5 Milwaukee County Circuit Court race, Judge Paul Dedinsky had more qualified ratings (130) and fewer not qualified ratings (39) than challenger Brett Blomme, who scored at 85 and 64. Blomme, who hasn’t been a trial lawyer since leaving the Public Defender’s
Office in Madison in 2016, had the second-highest no opinion score in the survey, 129.
Blomme is president and CEO of the Cream City Foundation, and the chairman of Milwaukee’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
In Branch 29, Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Kiefer got more qualified votes than Judge Daniel Gabler, 174 to 123, and fewer not qualified marks, 12 to 47.
Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Donald got the most qualified votes in the survey, 252, and the fewest not qualified, just 3, and 34 no opinion responses, second lowest behind Karofsky. Donald is running unopposed.
The survey was sent to the MBA’s 2,008 members and saw about a 15% return rate. It asks for rankings based on factors like integrity, knowledge of the law, communication skill, preparation, control of proceedings, punctuality and service to the profession and the public.