jon_berzerk
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- Mar 5, 2013
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Madison - State Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack easily won a second term Tuesday, overcoming Marquette University law professor Ed Fallone.
With 93% of precincts reporting, Roggensack had 57% of the vote to Fallone's 43%.
Roggensack touted her experience in the race, noting she served seven years on the Court of Appeals and nearly 10 years on the Supreme Court. She had the backing of law enforcement and more than 100 judges, as well as the state Republican Party.
Fallone, who had the support of Democrats and unions, contended the high court has grown dysfunctional and said Roggensack needed to be replaced to start to improve sour relationships on the court.
Roggensack's victory gives her a second 10-year term on the bench and preserves the court's conservative majority. On the most controversial issues and cases in recent years, the court has often split 4-3, with Roggensack in the majority.
Speaking to reporters after the race was called, Roggensack thanked supporters and said she believed voters wanted to see a justice with knowledge of the job and were tired of negative campaigns.
"Now I can go back to my books. It suits me just fine," she told her backers at her victory party at Veranda, a restaurant in Fitchburg.
Roggensack was joined at her party by Justice Annette Ziegler, who often rules the same way as Roggensack.
Fallone told supporters at the Best Place in Milwaukee that he was proud of his campaign and that he would continue to fight for issues he raised in the race about campaign financing and judicial discipline.
"Deep divisions remain in our state Supreme Court," he said. "They need to be healed. But I hope with today's election that the members of the court can begin work on healing those divisions, moving past their disputes and restoring our state Supreme Court to a position of respect."
Roggensack's re-election comes as the court is expected to take up major cases in the coming years, including rulings from lower courts that invalidated Wisconsin's voter ID law and parts of Act 10, the law curtailing collective bargaining for most public workers. Roggensack and Fallone never said how they would rule on those matters, though Roggensack was part of a 4-3 majority in 2011 that found lawmakers had not violated the open meetings law in approving Act 10.
Election 2013 - Patience Roggensack defeats Edward Fallone for second term on state Supreme Court
With 93% of precincts reporting, Roggensack had 57% of the vote to Fallone's 43%.
Roggensack touted her experience in the race, noting she served seven years on the Court of Appeals and nearly 10 years on the Supreme Court. She had the backing of law enforcement and more than 100 judges, as well as the state Republican Party.
Fallone, who had the support of Democrats and unions, contended the high court has grown dysfunctional and said Roggensack needed to be replaced to start to improve sour relationships on the court.
Roggensack's victory gives her a second 10-year term on the bench and preserves the court's conservative majority. On the most controversial issues and cases in recent years, the court has often split 4-3, with Roggensack in the majority.
Speaking to reporters after the race was called, Roggensack thanked supporters and said she believed voters wanted to see a justice with knowledge of the job and were tired of negative campaigns.
"Now I can go back to my books. It suits me just fine," she told her backers at her victory party at Veranda, a restaurant in Fitchburg.
Roggensack was joined at her party by Justice Annette Ziegler, who often rules the same way as Roggensack.
Fallone told supporters at the Best Place in Milwaukee that he was proud of his campaign and that he would continue to fight for issues he raised in the race about campaign financing and judicial discipline.
"Deep divisions remain in our state Supreme Court," he said. "They need to be healed. But I hope with today's election that the members of the court can begin work on healing those divisions, moving past their disputes and restoring our state Supreme Court to a position of respect."
Roggensack's re-election comes as the court is expected to take up major cases in the coming years, including rulings from lower courts that invalidated Wisconsin's voter ID law and parts of Act 10, the law curtailing collective bargaining for most public workers. Roggensack and Fallone never said how they would rule on those matters, though Roggensack was part of a 4-3 majority in 2011 that found lawmakers had not violated the open meetings law in approving Act 10.
Election 2013 - Patience Roggensack defeats Edward Fallone for second term on state Supreme Court
