![]() "They have a choice between me and my opponent a judicial activist," he said at another. My opponent has been legislating from the bench," Gableman said at one point during the debate. His answers were vague, and nearly every time he spoke, Gableman found a way to hit tried-and-true conservative talking points for judicial campaigns. Gableman took a decidedly different approach.īutler, top, and Gableman during a 2008 WPT debate. "The rule is that 60.06(4) that talks about how elections are run," Butler told a live studio audience for their debate while members of the public watched on at home. "We wish that all independent groups would stand down, stand aside, and let the people hear from us, the candidates," Butler said.īutler's answers to questions were precise, and sometimes technical, like when he was asked about campaign donations to justices. "Because you're trying to send a signal that if you vote with me, I'll vote with you, and that's not what the justice system is all about."Īt a time when outside groups on the right and the left were heavily involved the race, Butler asked them all to take their TV ads off the air. "I think it is inappropriate for a judge or a justice to tell you that I'm a conservative or a liberal or I'm a candidate of big business or law enforcement or labor or whoever," Butler said during a 2008 debate with Gableman just days before their election. Jim Doyle in 2004, but in speeches and debates, he avoided saying political things. ![]() Wisconsin had already seen a glimpse at the new world of judicial politics in 2007 when conservative Justice Annette Ziegler defeated Madison attorney Linda Clifford in a campaign that was both expensive and negative.īut the 2008 election between Butler and Gableman could not have provided a sharper contrast in styles between two candidates.īutler had been appointed by Democratic Gov. "2008 marks the beginning of the conversion of Wisconsin judicial politics to just an extension of partisan politics by other means." 2008 "It was absolutely transformative," said University of Wisconsin-Madison politics and law professor Howard Schweber. He was running during a two-year Democratic wave that saw Democrats win up and down the ballot from the White House to the state Legislature.Īn incumbent justice had not lost in Wisconsin in more than 40 years.Īnd yet Butler was defeated that year by now-Justice Michael Gableman, providing a new template for how to win and lose Supreme Court races in Wisconsin. In 2008, former state Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler was the candidate favored by Democrats. To read the full story and support our local, independent newsroom, please subscribe at year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race has been more overtly partisan than any in recent memory, but it reflects an evolution of judicial campaigns that began in earnest with another judicial contest a decade ago. But not all fliers are welcome.Ī portion of this story is shared with you as a digital media exclusive. The model aircrafts are powered by gas or electric motors. We’ve seen some exotic things out here over the years,” said Hemphill. Members fly biplanes, Pipers, Cessnas and fighter plane replicas from various conflicts called “warbirds.” “Radio-controlled aircraft is what the club is all about,” said Hemphill, who’s been a member for 44 years. Member Ron Hemphill said the aircraft that were taking to the clear sky over the reclaimed strip mine were all radio-controlled under the direction of pilots on the ground using joysticks to send commands to the planes. That’s because the Butler Aircraft Modelers Society was celebrating its 50th anniversary with a potluck picnic, and its members were sending a variety of giant scale model planes into flight over its pavilion. Joseph Ressler/Butler EagleĬLAY TWP – The air was buzzing at the Bruner-Waite Airfield on the Sylvania Conservation Area on July 9. Member Ron Hemphill flies a Cessna Aerobat model plane during the Butler Aircraft Modelers Society picnic celebrating their 50th anniversary on July 9 in Clay Township.
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