Poll: Fox Point municipal judge, disability rights advocate preferred by lawyers

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Scott Wales, a municipal judge in Fox Point, and William Crowley, a lawyer at Disability Rights Wisconsin, fared better in a recent survey meant to gauge the qualifications of candidates for circuit court and municipal court positions.

The Milwaukee Bar Association surveys its members each year before 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, their understanding of the law and their 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.

Nearly 16 percent of MBA members responded to the survey, and not all responses to the survey rated each candidate.

Asked about the candidates in the contested race for Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 47, respondents showed a preference for Scott Wales, a Fox Point municipal court judge and a Milwaukee lawyer. Wales was rated as qualified by 129 members. The other candidate vying for the spot, Kashoua Yang, also a Milwaukee attorney, was rated as qualified by 81 members.

Conversely, Wales was rated as not qualified by 14 members, whereas 48 members rated Yang as not qualified.

Of the candidates for the contested race for Milwaukee municipal court, respondents viewed William Crowley, a lawyer at Disability Rights Wisconsin, more favorably than his opponent, the incumbent Judge Valarie Hill.

Crowley was rated as qualified by 96 members, whereas 75 members rated Valarie Hill as qualified.

Crowley was rated not qualified by 18 members, and 88 rated Hill as not qualified. Follow @erikastrebel