MONROE - The campaign for Wisconsin Supreme Court justice may have united people in a way neither candidate intended - it's turned voters off to both.
A nasty advertising war between Judge Michael Gableman and Justice Louis Butler has been waged in recent weeks. Both candidates and their supporters have spent a lot of money, not necessarily to explain what they will do, if elected, but to explain why the other candidate shouldn't be elected.
Green County Circuit Court Judge James Beer disagrees with using negative campaign ads in judicial elections.
"I think they're degrading the office they seek," he said. "It's easy to distort someone's record."
The Wisconsin Supreme Court sets an example for other courts, he said, and this campaign has set a bad one.
Beer said negative campaign ads dissuade people from running for office.
"Personal attacks affect you and your family," he said.
Even if Beer disagrees with a candidate for the Supreme Court, that candidate is entitled to respect, he added.
Beer isn't the only one who's disappointed with the campaign, especially the advertisements.
Doni Trimble, Monroe, said the ads have made her not want to vote.
"The ads are terrible," she said. "They should be informative."
Trimble isn't alone in her opinions.
Only 20 percent of Wisconsin voters are expected to vote Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
The turnout prediction from the state's Government Accountability Board assumes that about 875,000 voters will cast ballots.
Turnout was 19.5 percent in both last year's spring election and one in 2003 when there also were Supreme Court contests.
According to some people in Monroe, neither candidate has done a good job of explaining his positions or himself.
"I've seen them both and I'm not impressed with either of them," Judy Collins said of the ads and the candidates. "All I hear is that one of them likes to let offenders off easy and the other guy supposedly doesn't."
Ads attacking Justice Butler have accused him of being soft on crime and siding with criminals in cases a majority of the time.
But Brett Priebe said because Butler was a defense attorney, it was his job to work for defendants.
"You want a defense attorney to try to get you out of it," he said.
Still, Priebe wants to know more about the candidates and what they've done in the past. Neither candidate has done a good job at telling voters about themselves, he said.
When one candidate talks about the other, some wonder if they can believe what they hear.
"How much is slander?" Larry Hanson asked.
The Associated Press reported Friday that a campaign ad by Judge Gableman is dishonest and has tarnished the entire judicial system, a group of more than 30 judges said.
The group includes four appeals court judges, former Justice William Bablitch and circuit court judges around the state.
Gableman crossed all boundaries of fairness, honesty and integrity with an ad attacking Butler, the judges said in a statement released Thursday.
The ad deals with a case in which Butler represented a man convicted of sexual assault when he was a public defender. It falsely implies Butler helped the man win freedom and he went on to molest again.
Some have described the ad as race-baiting, since it shows a picture of the black criminal next to the state's first black justice.
But Gableman campaign adviser Darrin Schmitz said the ad fairly critiqued Butler's record as a criminal defense lawyer. Gableman is a former prosecutor.
"Butler and his supporters are trying to distract voters from the strong contrast between the candidates," he said.
Hanson said the campaign makes him think of writing in his own candidate.
"I think we should write in Judge Beer's name," he said.
A nasty advertising war between Judge Michael Gableman and Justice Louis Butler has been waged in recent weeks. Both candidates and their supporters have spent a lot of money, not necessarily to explain what they will do, if elected, but to explain why the other candidate shouldn't be elected.
Green County Circuit Court Judge James Beer disagrees with using negative campaign ads in judicial elections.
"I think they're degrading the office they seek," he said. "It's easy to distort someone's record."
The Wisconsin Supreme Court sets an example for other courts, he said, and this campaign has set a bad one.
Beer said negative campaign ads dissuade people from running for office.
"Personal attacks affect you and your family," he said.
Even if Beer disagrees with a candidate for the Supreme Court, that candidate is entitled to respect, he added.
Beer isn't the only one who's disappointed with the campaign, especially the advertisements.
Doni Trimble, Monroe, said the ads have made her not want to vote.
"The ads are terrible," she said. "They should be informative."
Trimble isn't alone in her opinions.
Only 20 percent of Wisconsin voters are expected to vote Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
The turnout prediction from the state's Government Accountability Board assumes that about 875,000 voters will cast ballots.
Turnout was 19.5 percent in both last year's spring election and one in 2003 when there also were Supreme Court contests.
According to some people in Monroe, neither candidate has done a good job of explaining his positions or himself.
"I've seen them both and I'm not impressed with either of them," Judy Collins said of the ads and the candidates. "All I hear is that one of them likes to let offenders off easy and the other guy supposedly doesn't."
Ads attacking Justice Butler have accused him of being soft on crime and siding with criminals in cases a majority of the time.
But Brett Priebe said because Butler was a defense attorney, it was his job to work for defendants.
"You want a defense attorney to try to get you out of it," he said.
Still, Priebe wants to know more about the candidates and what they've done in the past. Neither candidate has done a good job at telling voters about themselves, he said.
When one candidate talks about the other, some wonder if they can believe what they hear.
"How much is slander?" Larry Hanson asked.
The Associated Press reported Friday that a campaign ad by Judge Gableman is dishonest and has tarnished the entire judicial system, a group of more than 30 judges said.
The group includes four appeals court judges, former Justice William Bablitch and circuit court judges around the state.
Gableman crossed all boundaries of fairness, honesty and integrity with an ad attacking Butler, the judges said in a statement released Thursday.
The ad deals with a case in which Butler represented a man convicted of sexual assault when he was a public defender. It falsely implies Butler helped the man win freedom and he went on to molest again.
Some have described the ad as race-baiting, since it shows a picture of the black criminal next to the state's first black justice.
But Gableman campaign adviser Darrin Schmitz said the ad fairly critiqued Butler's record as a criminal defense lawyer. Gableman is a former prosecutor.
"Butler and his supporters are trying to distract voters from the strong contrast between the candidates," he said.
Hanson said the campaign makes him think of writing in his own candidate.
"I think we should write in Judge Beer's name," he said.