For Immediate Release     

February 19, 2008

Contact: Jesse Rutledge, 202-588-9454

National Watchdog Applauds Wisconsin Senate for Action on Supreme Court Campaign Finance Reform

WASHINGTON, DC – Wisconsin has taken a major step toward protecting the fairness and impartiality of its Supreme Court with today’s passage of a judicial public funding measure by the state Senate, according to the Washington, DC-based Justice at Stake Campaign.  The measure can become law if the state Assembly gives its stamp of approval, and 

“People of all political stripes want serious measures to keep special interest cash out of the courtroom,” said Bert Brandenburg, executive director of the Justice at Stake Campaign.  “Public funding of Wisconsin’s high court races is the right reform at the right time.”

Justice at Stake recently completed a public opinion survey of Wisconsin voters showing strong bipartisan support for the change.  Wisconsin voters strongly support a proposal to reform Supreme Court elections, with 65 percent backing a plan to offer public financing to qualified candidates and only 26 percent opposing it, according to a new survey of 600 Wisconsin likely voters conducted by American Viewpoint on behalf of the Justice at Stake Campaign. 

The survey also reveals that Wisconsin voters, on the verge of witnessing their second negative, expensive high court race in the last 12 months, overwhelmingly agree (77 percent) that the legislature and the governor need to take action on judicial campaign reform before the next election.

“Today’s action by the state Senate shows they are responding to an overwhelming desire to get this reform taken care of now, and not keep delaying reform,” Brandenburg added.

Support for the proposal is strong across all demographic and geographic groups, and across ideological and party lines, with Republicans favoring the proposal by a margin of 58 percent to 32 percent.   Even a plurality of self-identified “very conservative voters” support the proposal (48 percent favor, 39 percent oppose).

After hearing arguments both in favor of and opposition to the proposal, overall support increases to 75 percent, and opposition drops to 17 percent.  This support includes 69 percent of Republicans, 70 percent from ticket splitters, and 87 percent of Democrats.

The poll finds that only five percent of respondents believe that campaign contributions made to judges have no influence at all on decisions judges make in the courtroom, while 78 percent say they have “a great deal” or “some” influence.

Justice at Stake is a nonpartisan national campaign of 50 partners working to keep our courts fair, impartial and independent. Justice at Stake Campaign partners – including the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign – educate the public and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom, so judges can do their job protecting our Constitution, our rights and the rule of law.

American Viewpoint is one of the most widely-respected public opinion research and  strategic message consulting firms in the United States. Founded in 1985 by Linda DiVall, the company has established a national reputation for outstanding quantitative and qualitative research in politics, corporate affairs, public policy and government relations, working with countless Presidential candidates, national political committees, U.S. Senators, Governors, Congressional Members and state legislative caucuses, along with many corporations and associations.

The survey of 600 likely Wisconsin voters was conducted by American Viewpoint on January 2-3, 2008, and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.  The survey was conducted with financial support from the Joyce Foundation of Chicago, Illinois.  Complete poll results are available online at justiceatstake.org.