Wisconsin judicial elections, 2017
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| 2017 Election Dates | |
|---|---|
| Deadline to file candidacy | |
| January 3, 2017 | |
| Primary election | |
| February 21, 2017 | |
| General election | |
| April 4, 2017 | |
| 2017 State Judicial Elections | |
|---|---|
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The terms of four judges on Wisconsin's state-level courts expired on July 31, 2017. A full term for a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice is 10 years. A full term for a Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge is six years. Judges in Wisconsin run in nonpartisan elections, and Wisconsin holds judicial elections every year.
Candidates
Supreme Court
■ Annette Ziegler (Incumbent/Unopposed) 
Court of Appeals
District I
■ William Brash (Incumbent/Unopposed)
District II
■ Brian Hagedorn (Incumbent/Unopposed)
District IV
- Judge Paul Higginbotham declined to run for re-election.[2]
■ Michael R. Fitzpatrick (Unopposed)
Selection
- See also: Judicial selection in Wisconsin
Election process
Judicial elections in Wisconsin are nonpartisan. The top two candidates in the primary election advance to the general election.
Primary election
A primary is held on the third Tuesday in February to nominate judicial candidates for the general election, held in April.[3] A primary is required if more than two candidates file for nomination to the supreme court, the same district of an appellate court, or for the same branch of a circuit court.[3] If the number of candidates for office does not exceed twice the number to be elected to the office, a primary is not held, and all the candidates will appear on the ballot in the April general election.[3] The two candidates who receive the most votes in a primary race advance to the general election.[4]
General election
A general election is held on the first Tuesday in April.[3]
Campaign finance
State candidates—i.e., candidates for the supreme court, courts of appeals, and circuit courts—are required to file campaign finance reports eight days before both the primary and general. This is mandatory regardless of whether the candidate is unopposed or lost during the primary.[5]
Access Wisconsin statutes regarding campaign finance here.
Vacancies
- See also: Gubernatorial appointment of judges
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement. If the vacancy occurs between December 1 and the April general election, the appointee must stand for election the following spring. If the vacancy occurs earlier, judges stand for re-election during the next general election in which no other justice or judge from their district is being elected.[4]
The governor solicits recommendations from an Advisory Council on Judicial Selection in making his or her appointments, but is not required to choose one of the suggested appointees.[4][6]
Political composition of the state supreme court
Justices prior to election
While Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan, Ballotpedia collects information about the political affiliations of judges in order to provide insight into court decisions. At the time of the election, the balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was 5-2 in favor of Republican-affiliated justices. The court's newest member, Justice Daniel Kelly, was appointed in 2016 by Republican Gov. Scott Walker to succeed retired Justice David Prosser.
■ Chief Justice Patience Roggensack 
■ Justice Shirley Abrahamson 
■ Justice Ann Walsh Bradley
■ Justice Rebecca Bradley
■ Justice Michael Gableman
■ Justice Daniel Kelly
■ Justice Annette Ziegler
Local trial court elections
Forty-eight circuit court seats in Wisconsin were up for general election on April 4, 2017. Three seats required primaries on February 21, 2017, with the top two vote recipients for each seat advancing to the April 4 general election. Thirty-seven seats up for election in 2017 were uncontested, representing 77 percent of all circuit court seats on the ballot. Twelve of the state's 48 circuit court seats up for election were located in Milwaukee County, the state's most populous county.[7]
State profile
| Demographic data for Wisconsin | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 5,767,891 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 54,158 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 86.5% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 6.3% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2.5% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 6.3% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 91% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 27.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $53,357 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 15% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Wisconsin. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Wisconsin
Wisconsin voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 23 are located in Wisconsin, accounting for 11.17 percent of the total pivot counties.[8]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Wisconsin had 21 Retained Pivot Counties and two Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 11.60 and 8.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.
More Wisconsin coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Wisconsin
- United States congressional delegations from Wisconsin
- Public policy in Wisconsin
- Endorsers in Wisconsin
- Wisconsin fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wisconsin court election 2017. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wisconsin Elections Commission, "Candidate Tracking by Office, 2017 Spring Election - 4/4/2017," accessed January 5, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "State appeals court judge Paul Higginbotham won't seek re-election," May 18, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Wisconsin Legislative Council, "Overview of the Election Law in Wisconsin," archived March 31, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Wisconsin," accessed September 1, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "State Candidates & Committees," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Walker's approach to the judiciary," September 21, 2013
- ↑ Wisconsin Elections Commission, "Spring 2017 Election," accessed January 3, 2017
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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Federal courts:
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Wisconsin, Western District of Wisconsin • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Wisconsin, Western District of Wisconsin
State courts:
Wisconsin Supreme Court • Wisconsin Court of Appeals • Wisconsin Circuit Courts • Wisconsin Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Wisconsin • Wisconsin judicial elections • Judicial selection in Wisconsin
