Muni judges meet different fates in Milwaukee circuit court races

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While two candidates running for circuit court in Milwaukee County had prior municipal court experience, only one was victorious on April 7.

Private attorney J.D. Watts, who serves as a municipal court judge in Fox Point, defeated assistant district attorney Daniel J. Gabler for the Branch 15 vacancy, but attorney Christopher R. Lipscomb, a municipal judge in Glendale, lost to Ellen R. Brostrom of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren SC.

Both were tight races, but Brostrom, 42, said her 13 years of trial court experience with a larger firm resonated with voters, more than Lipscomb’s 11 years on the municipal court bench.

She received 51 percent of the vote and edged Lipscomb by about 2,000 votes for the Branch 6 seat previously held by Judge Kitty K. Brennan. Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Brennan to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals last fall.

“I think my overall experience really fed my victory,” said Brostrom, who focuses on employee benefit litigation.

But in the other race, Watts, who was elected to the Fox Point bench in 2007, topped Gabler by about 2,800 votes.

Watts handles primarily family and children’s law issues. He said his not going negative made the difference against Gabler, 47, who has been a prosecutor for the last 8 years.

“I think a positive message is really what voters are looking for,” Watts said. “Despite the turn the campaign took, it really wasn’t me, rather events that were beyond my control.”

Gabler, who won the Feb. 17 primary with 44 percent of the vote, took some heat and saw several judges and attorneys withdraw support after the candidate circulated a brochure suggesting Watts and then-candidate Ronald S. Dague, a life-long prosecutor, had “a record of defending criminals.”

He also ran a radio spot before the primary noting that four judges in Milwaukee County were absent 10 of 52 weeks during the year.

“The message in the primary ad was simply that not all judges work as hard as they could and it was a legitimate campaign issue,” said Gabler, who added that he did not know what effect Watts’ judicial background had on the election.

Asked if he would have done anything differently during his campaign, Gabler said his message would have remained the same.

“I think running a good campaign would have resulted in a win,” Gabler said. “It’s clear the only way to describe it was it was not the right time or the right place.”

He said it was too soon to decide whether he would run again in the future, and he plans to continue his work as a prosecutor in Milwaukee.

Lipscomb, 46, took the loss in stride and said he is looking forward to continuing his service on the bench in Glendale, but he expects to run again in the future.

“I got some good name recognition and I think the race showed that judicial experience does matter,” Lipscomb said. “She [Brostrom] just had a message which resonated with voters a little bit better than mine.”

Watts, 57, said he will be winding down his practice in the coming months and will continue to serve in Fox Point until his six-year circuit court terms starts in August.

Brostrom, the daughter of current state Supreme Court Justice Patience Drake Roggensack, said she too will prepare for her departure from Reinhart and is excited to join her mother as a member of the state’s judiciary.

“It’s going to be a new thing to celebrate together,” Brostrom said.