CONTACT: Rebecca Lynch 262-676-2587
Building a fairer system of justice for all Wisconsin residents
MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Working Families Party is endorsing Wisconsin Court of Appeals Chief Judge Lisa Neubauer for Wisconsin Supreme Court, the state’s highest appellate branch. Wisconsin Working Families Party will provide people power to the campaign, mobilizing volunteers and members to put boots on the ground to educate voters, particularly in Milwaukee where the Wisconsin Working Families Party has endorsed a slate of five candidates for the MPS Board of Directors.
Though the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are non-partisan, lame-duck state legislative Republicans recently unsuccessfully tried to change the date of the 2020 primary elections to preference their preferred candidate. Democrat-allied members of the state Supreme Court received a boost last year with the surprise win of WIWFP-endorsed Rebecca Dallet. If Neubauer wins her election, the balance of power on the Court will shift toward more progressive jurists. Neubauer will face appellate Judge Brian Hagedorn — former chief legal counsel to former Gov. Scott Walker and an architect of Act 10 — in the non-partisan April 2 election for a 10-year term. Hagedorn has come under fire for blog posts he wrote while in law school that reveal his extreme views, denying basic human rights to women and the LGBTQ community.
“Judge Lisa Neubauer is the kind of jurist that Wisconsin needs on the state’s highest court to ensure that the rights of the many, not just the rich and privileged, are protected,” said Rebecca Lynch, deputy director of Wisconsin Working Families Party. “For the last three decades, Judge Neubauer has demonstrated a commitment to public service. She will fight to return independence and fairness to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by standing up to special interests.”
“I thank WFP for their endorsement of our campaign,” said Judge Neubauer. “Families across Wisconsin are demanding a fair, impartial, and independent court, and that’s the kind of Justice I will be.”
Judge Neubauer has served on the Court of Appeals since 2008 and has been Chief Judge since being appointed by Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2015. In addition to her judicial service, Neubauer is a recipient of the Lynford Lardner Community Service Award in recognition of her volunteer work and civic involvement and a recipient of the Association for Women Lawyer’s Community Service Award. She has served as a board member of the Racine Area United Way, ABCD, the Equal Justice Coalition (now known as the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund), and Legal Action of Wisconsin.
Now in its third year of operations in the state, Wisconsin Working Families Party has proven to be a potent and effective political operation. In the 2018 election cycle, the Party ran one of the largest volunteer operations in Wisconsin engaging activists and volunteers from all walks of life in texting, phone banking, rallying, and door knocking for Tony Evers and WI WFP board member Mandela Barnes. Wisconsin Working Families Party was also key in the successful elections of Milwaukee sheriff Earnell Lucas and several state legislators, including Robyn Vining (District 14), the only Democratic challenger to flip an Assembly seat from red to blue.
