Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist, she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first female justice to serve on Wisconsin's highest court. She became the court's first female chief justice on August 1, 1996, and served in that capacity until April 29, 2015. In all, she served on the court for 43 years (1976–2019), making her the longest-serving justice in the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin.
Jon P. Wilcox is an American lawyer and retired judge. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for 15 years, appointed by Governor Tommy G. Thompson in 1992 and leaving office in 2007. Prior to his time on the Supreme Court, he served for 13 years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge, including seven years as Chief Judge of the 6th Judicial Administrative District of Wisconsin Circuit Courts. Earlier, he represented Green Lake and Waushara counties in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican.
Neil Patrick Crooks was an American lawyer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1996 until his death in 2015. He was appointed as a county judge by a Democratic governor, later professing conservatism as a Supreme Court candidate in 1995 and 1996. In his later years, Crooks gained notice as a perceived judicial moderate and swing vote on a court otherwise divided into two ideological blocs.
David T. Prosser Jr. is an American jurist and politician who served as Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1998 to 2016. He is currently an informal advisor to Wisconsin Assembly speaker Robin Vos as Vos seeks a rationale for impeaching current Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Janet Protasiewicz.
Patience Drake "Pat" Roggensack is a retired American attorney and jurist. She was the 26th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court (2015–2021), and served 20 years on the high court, from 2003 through 2023.
Michael J. Gableman is an American lawyer and former justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. A Republican, he has been described as a hard-line conservative.
One Wisconsin Now is a liberal issue advocacy organization based in Wisconsin that focuses on advancing "progressive leadership and values." Created in 2006, One Wisconsin Now rose to prominence in 2006 when the group unsuccessfully opposed the election of Annette Ziegler to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The group has called for investigations of a number of candidates for public office, including Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. Isthmus, a Madison alternative weekly newspaper, called One Wisconsin Now "[one of] the most prominent players" in the 2006 Wisconsin Supreme Court elections. One Wisconsin Now is an affiliate of ProgressNow.
John Theodore Chisholm is an American prosecutor and politician who has served as Milwaukee County District Attorney since 2007. A career prosecutor, Chisholm specialized in complex conspiracy prosecutions before his election as district attorney in 2006.
JoAnne F. Kloppenburg is a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, serving since 2012 in the Madison-based District IV. Kloppenburg was previously an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice and was a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2011 and 2016.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election of 2011 took place on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. The incumbent justice, David Prosser, Jr., was re-elected to another ten-year term, defeating assistant Wisconsin Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg. Unlike past elections for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the race gained significant nationwide publicity as it was widely seen as the first referendum on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's proposed anti-union legislation and the resulting protests.
Lisa Neubauer is an American lawyer and judge, currently serving as a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Waukesha-based District II. Judge Neubauer has served on the Court of Appeals since 2007 and was chief judge from 2015 through 2021.
Ralph Adam Fine was an American lawyer, judge, author, and television personality. He served as a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for the last 26 years of his life, after serving 9 years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County.
Brad Schimel is an American prosecutor and judge. He was the 44th Attorney General of Wisconsin, serving from 2015 to 2019. He was defeated seeking re-election in 2018, and was subsequently appointed Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, by Governor Scott Walker. Prior to winning election as Attorney General, Schimel was district attorney of Waukesha County.
Rebecca Lynn Grassl Bradley is an American lawyer, and justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving since 2015. She has been a state judge in Wisconsin since 2012. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Scott Walker in 2015, and won election to a 10-year term in 2016.
Brian Keith Hagedorn is an American lawyer and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving since 2019. Prior to his election to the Supreme Court, he served four years as a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Waukesha-based District II.
Rebecca Frank Dallet is an American lawyer and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Prior to her 2018 election, she served ten years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge in Milwaukee County. Earlier in her career she worked as a prosecutor and appointed court official.
Jill Judith Karofsky is an American attorney, judge, and justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Karofsky served as a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge in Dane County from 2017 until her 2020 election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The 2020 Wisconsin Fall General Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on November 3, 2020. All of Wisconsin's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election, as well as sixteen seats in the Wisconsin State Senate and all 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Voters also chose ten electors to represent them in the Electoral College, which then participated in selecting the president of the United States. The 2020 Fall Partisan Primary was held on August 11, 2020.
The 2015 Wisconsin Spring Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on April 7, 2015. There was a contested election for justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as well as several other nonpartisan local and judicial elections and an amendment to the Constitution of Wisconsin to change the process for selection of the chief justice of the State Supreme Court. In addition, the ballot contained a special election to fill a vacancy in the 20th State Senate district. The 2015 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held February 17, 2015.
