MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Wisconsin Supreme Court race (all times local):
7:56 p.m.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn says his opponent Lisa Neubauer is lying about him and attacking him over his personal beliefs.
The candidates met Tuesday in a final, spirited debate a week before the April 2 election.
Hagedorn says Neubauer is misleading voters and is calling him names. Neubauer says she is presenting facts about Hagedorn’s past blog writings and his beliefs that voters should know before the election.
Hagedorn wrote a blog while a law school student where he criticized court rulings in favor of gay writes, called Planned Parenthood a “wicked organization” and commented on other legal issues. Neubauer also criticized Hagedorn for starting a private school that bans gay teachers.
Hagedorn says Neubauer is “deliberately trying to undermine my reputation” by mining partisan talking points.
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10:40 a.m.
A Republican group is launching a statewide television ad buy a week before the April 2 election to boost Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn.
The Republican State Leadership Committee’s Judicial Fairness Initiative announced Tuesday it was spending at least $1 million on the effort, which includes spending on mailings, radio and ads that will run digitally, on cable and broadcast television.
As of last week, outside spending had been overwhelmingly in favor of Hagedorn’s opponent Lisa Neubauer. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign estimated that Neubauer benefited from about 7-times more in outside spending than Hagedorn.
Neubauer is supported by liberals and donations from labor unions have helped fuel her edge over Hagedorn in fundraising. She raised about $1.7 million to date compared with about $1.3 million for Hagedorn.
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8:29 a.m.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn are meeting for a final debate one week ahead of the election.
Neubauer and Hagedorn are both state appeals court judges. They are running to replace retiring Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson.
Neubauer is backed by liberals while Hagedorn has support from conservatives. A win by Hagedorn would increase the court’s conservative majority to 5-2. A Neubauer win would maintain the current 4-3 conservative majority. However, a Neubauer win would mean the race next year would give liberals a chance to win back the majority.
The debate Tuesday in Milwaukee is hosted by WISN-TV and the Marquette University Law School. Veteran journalist Mike Gousha (goo-SHAY) will moderate.
The election is April 2. The winner serves a 10-year term.
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