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Will today’s state Supreme Court election be a referendum on the policies of Gov. Scott Walker?

The Family Research Council, a large funder of conservative causes founded by evangelical leader James Dobson, says that’s what liberals want.

david prosser

Last week, the group launched an 11th-hour flurry of radio ads in support of incumbent Justice David Prosser, who faces more liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Prosser’s win would maintain a conservative majority on the court, whereas Kloppenburg’s would likely break it.

The ads, which are running on 34 stations across the state and conclude today, exhort voters to “keep politics out of the Supreme Court” by electing Prosser.

“In Wisconsin, labor unions and liberal groups who have been hounding elected officials in recall elections are now hoping – by supporting an activist judge in next week’s election – to use the Supreme Court to strike down legislation passed by the Wisconsin legislature and signed by the governor,” the ad says. “Liberal special interests want to turn this election into a referendum on the governor.”

Prosser, the ads claim, “believes in judicial restraint and deserves another term on the Supreme Court.”

JoAnne Kloppenburg

Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill limiting public employee unions is being fought in state courts on multiple fronts, most notably by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozzane, who alleges the bill’s passage violated open meetings laws. Unions have also filed a lawsuit alleging the bill is unconstitutional.

Although the Family Research Council ads weep for the politicization of this state’s Supreme Court races, the ads are funded by the Council’s “Faith, Family, Freedom” political action committee. It’s website says it’s targeting a dozen states – including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan – in a campaign against big government.

On Feb. 25, State Rep. Robin Vos (R-Burlington) appeared on Council President Tony Perkins’ radio show, Washington Watch Weekly, in support of the legislation curtailing the power of unions.

“We can’t afford what we’ve already got,” he said of public employee benefits. “The only option we really have is to give those tools to local governments and take them ourselves as a state and say taxpayers have to come first, we have to ensure we have good, quality services but at a price we can afford.”

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