Poll: Among Milwaukee lawyers, Kloppenburg has lead over Bradley

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A survey shows Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg ahead of incumbent Justice Rebecca Bradley – at least among Milwaukee lawyers.

The Milwaukee Bar Association surveys its members each year before the spring elections, asking them to rate the qualifications of judicial candidates on the ballot. The MBA asks members to evaluate the candidates according to criteria such as integrity, knowledge and understanding of the law and communication abilities.

Members had the option of rating candidates as “qualified” or “not qualified.” They could also list “no opinion” – indicating they were not familiar with a candidate’s qualifications.

Kloppenburg, a District 4 Court of Appeals judge, was rated as qualified by 203 members, whereas Bradley  received the same rating from 120 members, according to the survey results released Wednesday.

Also, 138 members rated Bradley as not qualified, and 48 members rated Kloppenburg as not qualified.

A representative from Bradley’s campaign, reached Tuesday, downplayed the survey results.

“Our campaign does not comment on polls, but I don’t think this qualified since it only concerns the views of a couple hundred clearly partisan lawyers in Milwaukee,” said Luke Martz, campaign manager for Bradley. “Justice Bradley is focused on sharing her judicial philosophy and unrivaled experience with voters as part of her statewide campaign to retain her seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

Nearly 15 percent of MBA members responded to the survey, according to a news release, and not all responses to the survey rated each candidate. Follow @erikastrebel