February 15, 2019 at 4:15 p.m.
Judicial candidate Hagedorn introduces himself to the Northwoods
State Supreme Court election is April 2
Judicial candidate Hagedorn introduces himself to the Northwoods
By Kayla Thomason-
The winner will succeed the retiring Justice Shirley Abrahamson. While the race is officially nonpartisan, Hagedorn has received support from conservatives while Neubauer is backed by liberals.
Hagedorn spoke to the River News Wednesday, a day before coming under fire for helping to create and serving on the board of a private Christian elementary school that prohibits anyone working there from being in a same-sex relationship and could expel students who are LGBTQ, according to an Associated Press report.
Groups that advocate for gay rights in Wisconsin have argued that Hagedorn's involvement in the school disqualifies him from being able to serve as a fair, impartial judge on the state Supreme Court, the AP reports.
In response to the controversy related to his connection to the elementary school, and in his interview with the River News, Hagedorn insisted his personal views won't affect his judicial rulings.
"I think my job as a judge is to defend the rule of law, to uphold the constitution and protect the public," Hagedorn said. "So my job is to say what the law is, not what I think the law should be; to uphold the constitution as it's written and to also be a part of protecting the public particularily with drug crisis that are hitting our country."
He also said he is a firm believer in keeping politics out of the courts.
"I think we need to not have a political court, we need to get personal, political values out of the court and have a court that is faithfully committed to applying the law," Hagedorn said. "(The Supreme Court race) is going to be incredibly important for the future of the state, it's important to have someone who understands what the job of a judge is."
Hagedorn said he decided to run for the open seat because he enjoys public service, serving others and the law.
"It's easy to kind of sell what you actually believe," he said. "I didn't come up with some talking points and run for the court. This is what I actually believe, this is what I have talked to my wife about and have for years."
While voters may still be recovering from the November election, Hagedorn said the April race is crucial to the state's future.
"This is going to be a race that, quite frankly, the philosophy that governs the Wisconsin Supreme Court is just as important as who your governor is and who your legislature is because we know that everything that happens nowadays it ends up in courts and that may not be the way things were designed to be originally but it is where we're at," he said. "I think having judges that are faithfully committed to deploying the law, setting aside their own views really helps strengthen our democracy."
A graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, Hagedorn lives in the Waukesha area. He has been married for 17 years and has five children. His experience includes private practice and a clerkship at the state Supreme Court as well as service as an assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice and as former Gov. Scott Walker's chief legal counsel from 2011 to 2015. Walker appointed him to the bench in 2015.
Neubauer was appointed to the appeals court in 2007 by former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, according to a Feb. 10 Associated Press report on the state Supreme Court race.
Neubauer was elected to the appeals court in 2008, re-elected in 2014 and has been chief judge since 2015, the report notes, adding that she also spent almost 20 years as an attorney in private practice.
Both candidates cite bipartisan endorsements as proof that they would be impartial, according to the Feb. 10 report.
Neubauer's campaign is full of Democratic operatives, including Scott Spector, who managed Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin's re-election victory last year. Hagedorn's campaign is run by Stephan Thompson, a former Walker campaign manager.
Neubauer's husband, Jeff, was a former Democratic legislator and past chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party while her daughter, Greta Neubauer, is currently a state representative from Racine.
"I have chosen a very different path than my family," Neubauer told the AP. "I would ask to be judged on the path that I've chosen and my path is as a judge."
The judicial election is April 2. The winner will serve a 10-year term.
Kayla Thomason may be reached at [email protected].
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