By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//April 5, 2017//
By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//April 5, 2017//
Voters in counties with contested races for circuit courts made sure on Tuesday there will be some new faces on the bench, although some incumbents also managed to hold onto their seats.
Jill Karofsky, a lawyer at the state Department of Justice, beat her challenger Marilyn Townsend, a labor attorney, in the race for Dane County Circuit Court Branch 12.
In Milwaukee County, two local practitioners dueled for a seat on Branch 47. In the end, Kashoua Yang defeated Scott Wales, also a Fox Point municipal judge. Yang is the state’s first woman Asian-American judge.
In Washington County, Circuit Court Judge Todd Martens held onto his seat, and in Waupaca County, Assistant State Public Defender Troy Nielsen beat out the New London-based attorney Eric Hendrickson for the seat on Branch 1.
In Vernon County, the Westby-based attorney Darcy Rood defeated district attorney Timothy Gaskell for a seat on that county’s circuit court.
There were more than 50 state judicial seats up for election across the state Tuesday. Of those races, 11 were contested. Statewide, about 16 percent of Wisconsin’s eligible voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election. Below are the complete results of the state’s judicial races.
Burnett County Circuit Court
Melissia Mogen, Siren attorney – 63 percent, 1850 votes
David Grindell, Frederic attorney – 36.9 percent 1085 votes
Dane County Circuit Court, Branch 12
Marilyn Townsend, Madison labor attorney – 42.2 percent , 37,108 votes
Jill Karofksy, executive director of the state Department of Justice’s Office of Crime Victim Services – 57.5 percent, 50,577 votes
Dodge County Circuit Court, Branch 2
Martin De Vries, incumbent, Gov. Scott Walker’s appointee to the bench – 64 percent, 7,987 votes
Randall Doyle, Beaver Dam attorney – 35.9 percent, 4,476 votes
Kenosha County Circuit Court, Branch 7
Jodi Meier, incumbent, Walker’s appointee to the bench – 85 percent, 12386 votes
John Ward, Kenosha attorney – 15 percent, 2,145 votes
Manitowoc County Circuit Court, Branch 3
Bob Dewane, assistant district attorney for Manitowoc County – 54.9 percent, 7,546 votes
Patricia Koppa, Manitowoc register in probate – 45 percent, 6187 votes
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 12
Kashoua Yang, Milwaukee attorney, took 57.2 percent, 49,394 votes
Scott Wales, Fox Point municipal judge and Milwaukee attorney, 42.5 percent, or 36,732 votes.
Polk County Circuit Court, Branch 1
Trempealeau County Circuit Court
Vernon County Circuit Court
Washington County Circuit Court, Branch 3
Waupaca County Circuit Court, Branch 1
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to add missing digits in the percentage of votes for winning candidates starting at Trempealeau County.