1996 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

While Wisconsin typically holds its spring elections in early April, the 1996 spring general election was held on March 19. This is because in March 1995, Governor Tommy Thompson signed into law a bill moving both the 1996 spring general election and the state's presidential primaries from April 2 to March 19 in order to align its primary with the Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio primaries held on that day. This was done in hopes that Wisconsin can join these fellow Midwestern states in a so-called "Big Ten primary" held shortly-following the southern Super Tuesday in the major party primary calendars. The 1995 and 1996 elections were the fourth instance in the court's history in which two consecutive elections were for open seats (without an incumbent running). == Candidates ==

Advanced • N. Patrick Crooks: Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for the Brown County circuit (branch 6) since 1977, unsuccessful candidate for supreme court in 1995 • Ralph Adam Fine: Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge since 1988, former Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for the Milwaukee County circuit (1979–88), unsuccessful candidate for Supreme Court in 1989 • Harold Vernon Froehlich, Outagamie County Wisconsin Circuit Court judge since 1981 a liberal, a centrist with liberal leanings, or a centrist with conservative leanings. In general, as a justice he joined the court's majority on most opinions. Fine was also a conservative. Bugge was characterized as being a liberal. ==Primary election campaign==

Candidates declined to take stances on a number of hot-button issues (including capital punishment and abortion rights), arguing that they could one day be the subject of cases before them and that discussing the matters as candidates would create a judicial ethics concern. Voter and candidate geography was seen as a likely factor in the campaign. Bugge was seen as potentially assisted by the fact that he was the only contender from the populous Madison-area, as hometown voter support could grant him an edge. Meanwhile, southeastern Wisconsin was seen as likely to have fragmented sentiments in the race, due to four candidates being from the Milwaukee area Froehlich's campaign Gunderson argued that the court needed to a take a greater caseload. He promised not to take campaign contributions from special interests. Miller's campaign Miller argued that the courts needed to have a greater focus on its role in addressing societal issues, such as racism and poverty. Schudson's campaign Schudson argued that the courts should do more to assist the victims of domestic abuse. Wedemeyer's campaign Wedemeyer proposed the creation of a blue-ribbon committee to assess the state's court system and the public's expectations for it. == General election campaign ==

As in the primary, key issues of Crooks's campaign was support for the idea of creating a business court in the state, advocacy for the state's legal system needed to focus more on juvenile crime, and support for truth in sentencing laws. The editorial board of The Capital Times opined that ethics concerns that Fine raised against Crooks regarding special interest indeed had merit, but nevertheless reluctantly endorsed Crooks, opining, By the final campaign finance report before the election, Crooks's campaign had raised more than $106,000; nearly double what Fine's campaign had raised. On March 8, a televised debate was held between the two contenders. ==Endorsements==

Endorsements in primary Endorsements in general election == Results ==