Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Will Not Seek Re-election

Conservatives may have just received a gift horse in the form of a retirement by a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice.

Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley has announced that she will not seek re-election.

This will now put the newly found majority for liberals (currently at 4-3) at risk in the upcoming election cycle.

Time to Go

Last year, conservatives were shaken when liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on the court, giving the court a liberal slant for the first time in more than a decade.

She ran on blowing up the district maps that had been written by Republicans, and she delivered on her promise as soon as she took her seat.

Anthony Chergosky, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, explained just how much this would impact the local judiciary.

Chergosky stated, “At the end of the day, Wisconsin is a deeply and bitterly divided state, politically, and those divisions are very much reflected on the state Supreme Court.

“The flip in majority control was inevitably going to be jarring — it was bound to be a dramatic transition. And it has been.”

That advantage now enjoyed by liberals may be short-lived, however.

With Bradley stepping down, that will leave the door open for voters to reconsider the mistake they made by electing Protasiewicz.

Bradley, in announcing that she was leaving the bench, stated, "The people of Wisconsin have three times elected me to serve on the Supreme Court.

"It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve the people of this state and to know that when I am sitting down at the bench, I am standing up for them.

"Today I announce that I will not be running for a fourth ten-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

"I know I can win re-election should I run. But, it's just time to pass the torch, bringing fresh perspectives to the court."

Former Wisconsin AG Brad Schimel has already hinted that he will run for the seat next, which will be decided next April (Bradley’s term concludes in July 2015).