Butler
begins campaign
By
Jack Zemlicka
jack.zemlicka@wislawjournal.com
June
11, 2007
 |
| Justice
Louis B. Butler Jr. who was appointed to the state's high court in 2004, has launched
his election campaign to retain his seat on the bench. So far, no challengers
have emerged in the 2008 spring race. |
Having
the last word was one of the more dubious features of the 2007 spring election
for State Supreme Court.
Current
Justice Louis B. Butler Jr. is getting the first word out as his 2008 election
campaign has begun to take shape. Butler hired several full and part-time staff
members to maintain his official campaign committee, Friends of Justice Louis
Butler.
“We’re
putting together a campaign team and I feel we’ve gotten a good start, so
far,” said Butler, whose term expires on July 31, 2008.
Peter
Knudsen will serve as state-wide campaign coordinator and Sachin Chedda is interim
campaign director. Knudson has worked in both federal and state government and
served as an aide to Gov. Jim Doyle. Chedda also worked with Doyle and has 15
years of campaign experience.
“Our
goal right now is to get the campaign organized and let the people of Wisconsin
know why they should retain Justice Butler,” said Chedda, who is a partner
at Milwaukee-based public strategies firm, Nation Consulting.
Assembling
a permanent staff, developing the official Web site (www.LouisButler. com) and
publishing promotional literature are the current tasks being addressed by personnel.
Though
no official offices have been established, Chedda said the campaign will be headquartered
in Milwaukee, Butler’s city of residence.
Born
in Chicago, Butler was a Milwau-kee Municipal Court judge for a decade prior to
being elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2002. Gov. Jim Doyle appointed
him to the Supreme Court in 2004.
With
strong roots in the state’s two biggest cities, Butler intends to get around
the state and re-affirm the public’s confidence in his judicial ability.
“I’m
going to work hard to retain the trust of the people in the state of Wisconsin,”
said Butler, who noted that his primary responsibility is successfully completing
this term on the high court.
“Right
now, I’m focused on doing my job and getting opinions out,” said Butler.
“At least until Aug. 1, I’m still the newest justice.”
Some
of those decisions may have bearing as the campaign unfolds, according to John
McAdams, associate professor of political science at Marquette University. McAdams
expects, as a sitting justice, Butler will face a great deal of scrutiny from
opponents.
“Clearly
what we have here is a liberal judge, who will be a big, fat target for conservative
opponents,” said McAdams, anticipating another “heated” election,
similar to last year’s race between Justice-elect Annette K. Ziegler and
attorney Linda M. Clifford.
One
of several well-funded conservative candidates may step forward to challenge Butler,
according to McAdams, who noted that the justice’s service on the Supreme
Court could work for, and against him.
“While
candidates may not explicitly state their political platform, I expect Butler
will be attacked for some of the decisions he’s made, which may have negatively
impacted conservatives,” said McAdams.
No
opponents have filed nomination papers to challenge Butler, but Chedda said Butler’s
strategy would remain the same “if there are no opponents or if there are
10.”
While
Butler did not have a definite timetable for how his campaign will develop, he
did acknowledge the election landscape has changed.
“We
may perhaps be entering a new era for judicial elections and hopefully we’ve
started early enough on ours,” said Butler.
