Will one of six nominees move forward by November 2008?

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Five circuit court judges and one assistant U.S. Attorney are the finalists for the seat of U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph T. Randa who will assume senior status.

But when, if and how confirmation of a new judge will occur is unknown. Randa, 66, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, but a potential shift in the political landscape in Washington may complicate the process of selecting his successor.

“That’s the real question isn’t it — is anybody going to go through?” asked Richard M. Esenberg, a visiting assistant professor at Marquette University Law School. “Or are the Congressional Democrats, with the expectation that they may win the presidency, going to decline to act on these nominees?”

Recommended for the lifetime appointment are Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judges Michael B. Brennan, Timothy G. Dugan and Maxine A. White, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge J. Mac Davis, Racine County Circuit Court Judge Gerald P. Ptacek and assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, James L. Santelle.

The nominees were announced on Sept. 17 by the Federal Nominating Commis-sion and will be reviewed by Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner. They will make a recommendation to President Bush who will submit his choice to the U.S. Senate for confirmation, according to Tom Schreibel, chief of staff for Sensenbrenner.

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P. Geske, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice and current Marquette University Law School professor, said that while each of the nominees is extremely qualified, their prestige in the judicial arena may give way to political pressures.

“The President does not have strong support politically and he needs to find someone who can get confirmed,” said Geske, adding that the recommendations made by Feingold and Kohl could clash with Sensenbrenner’s because of political allegiances.

“It’s hard enough to get anybody appointed with the atmosphere in Wash-ington,” said Geske.

Political ties may be an issue for the candidates. Several of the nominees have party affiliations pre-dating their time on the bench and Santelle is currently serving as the U.S. Department of Justice’s justice attaché to the Republic of Iraq.

“Jim has worked for the federal government for all or most of his career and for that reason he has less of a political profile, but he does have an attachment to the current administration in connection with the war in Iraq,” said Esenberg “Whether that is seen as imputing a political position, I don’t know.”

Nominees Brennan and Davis have clearer conservative political backgrounds. Brennan has been active in the Federalist Society, while Davis served as a Republi-can state Senator from 1983-90.

Regardless of past political leanings, Esenberg did not expect the chosen candidate’s philosophy to impact his or her performance.

“The district court tends to be less of an ideological position because it’s a trial court position,” said Esenberg. “They don’t make law in the same way as the Supreme Court and most of the cases that they handle, drugs, patent litigation, don’t really implicate any of their political or judicial philosophies.”

Esenberg also noted that the candidates have been employed in their respective positions for several years, making them less likely to be publicly associated with specific political causes.

Santelle has been in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for more than 20 years, while Ptacek was appointed in 1988, Davis joined the court in 1990, both White and Dugan were appointed in 1992 and Brennan was appointed in 2000.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed all five judges.

As far as who will ultimately earn confirmation for the Eastern District seat, Geske hoped the fact that there has never been a female appointee be taken into consideration.

“With () Judge White (the only woman) among the nominees, I think that ought to be an important consideration,” said Geske. “I think the Eastern District is one of the few federal district courts to have never appointed a woman.”

Neither Geske nor Esenberg ventured a guess as to who may land the appointment, but both agreed that regardless of whether there are political disagreements surrounding who should earn the seat, there should be little argument about the quality of the candidates.

“It’s a nice place to be when you have tough decisions to make about good people,” said Geske.