MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on the state Supreme Court primary (all times local):
9:15 p.m.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet says she can win election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by “fighting for the people.”
Dallet and Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock advanced in Tuesday’s primary. Madison attorney Tim Burns was eliminated.
Dallet pitched herself to liberal voters while also arguing she was the most non-partisan of the three candidates. She tells The Associated Press that her message of experience as a prosecutor and judge resonated with people in the state.
Dallet says people are ready to “fight back” against special interest money that benefited Screnock. He was backed by the state chamber of commerce and Wisconsin Republican Party.
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9:10 p.m.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock says voters saw the clear contrast between him and two liberal opponents in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Screnock advanced in Tuesday’s primary along with Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet. She competed with Madison attorney Tim Burns for liberal voters, while Screnock was the choice of conservatives.
Screnock tells The Associated Press that his win shows that voters agreed with his message that he was committed to upholding the rule of law and not advocating for a political ideology.
Screnock was appointed to the court in 2015 by Republican Gov. Scott Walker and had the backing of conservative groups and the Wisconsin Republican Party.
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8:45 p.m.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet have easily advanced in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court primary.
Madison attorney Tim Burns was eliminated.
The outcome sets up an April 3 election between two justices with clearly different ideologies.
Screnock was appointeds a judge by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2015. He had the backing of the Wisconsin Republican Party and had previously worked as an attorney defending Walker’s Act 10 collective bargaining law and legislative maps drawn by Republicans that are currently being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dallet was elected judge in 2008. She tried to attract Democratic voters in the primary, running an ad critical of President Donald Trump. She also criticized the Supreme Court for ending an investigation into Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
The winner will replace Justice Michael Gableman, who did not seek a second 10-year term.
The court is controlled by conservatives 5-2.
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8:25 p.m.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet are big early leaders in the Wisconsin Supreme Court primary.
Screnock and Dallet were ahead Tuesday over Madison attorney Tim Burns with 19 percent of precincts reporting. The top two vote-getters advance to the April 3 general election.
Screnock is the choice of conservatives while Dallet and Burns have both been trying to win over Democrats in the officially nonpartisan race.
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4:25 p.m.
An ice storm has forced a village in northeastern Wisconsin to move a polling place for Tuesday’s election.
The village of Fox Crossing says people who normally vote at Spring Road School should instead vote at the municipal complex.
Fox Crossing Village President Dale Youngquist tells WBAY-TV the school does not have a backup generator. Youngquist says the county and the local clerk were concerned that if power went out, people would not be able to vote.
Tuesday’s ballot includes a primary election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Administrator Michael Haas of the Wisconsin Elections Commission says some places had detours because of water over the roads, mainly in rural areas, but the detours are easy to follow.
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Above item from WBAY-TV, Green Bay
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12:10 p.m.
A winter storm apparently is not keeping polls from opening for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court primary.
Administrator Michael Haas of the Wisconsin Elections Commission said late Tuesday morning he has not heard of any polling place opening late because of the weather.
The National Weather Service says heavy rain started falling Monday night in southern and southeastern Wisconsin, causing some road closures, while freezing rain glazed roads in central Wisconsin. Ashland in northern Wisconsin reports 11 inches of snow as of Tuesday morning.
Haas says anecdotally, voter turnout so far is light. He says in some places the state Supreme Court primary is the only race on the ballot.
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10:25 a.m.
Voters are casting their ballots in the state Supreme Court primary.
Attorney Tim Burns and circuit judges Rebecca Dallet and Michael Screnock are vying to replace Justice Michael Gableman on the court. The primary is Tuesday. The two-highest vote getters will advance to the April general election.
The race is officially nonpartisan but Screnock has Republican support. Dallet and Burns are trying to appeal to Democrats. Burns has openly stated his position on a number of topics, an unusual tactic in a judicial race.
Kerry Koppen of Sun Prairie says voted for Screnock on Tuesday. He believes Screnock is the least partisan.
Marie True, a Sun Prairie stay-at-home mother, voted for Dallet because she feels Dallet is a progressive woman.
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11:40 p.m.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court primary features two candidates trying to win over more liberal voters and one who is squarely backed by conservatives.
The two highest vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary will face one another in the April 3 election.
The winner will replace retiring Justice Michael Gableman on the court. He is part of a five-justice conservative majority. There are two liberal justices.
Madison attorney Tim Burns and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet were trying to appeal to Democrats in the race. Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock has the backing of the state Republican Party, anti-abortion groups and the National Rifle Association.
Burns has taken the unusual approach of stating his position on several issues. His opponents say that could force him to not hear cases before the Supreme Court on those topics.
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