Butler tried twice before to be elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and lost both times. He was appointed to the high court by Doyle. When election time came around again he was voted out. The people don't want an activist judge on the bench of the supreme court. The don't want a judge to legislate from the bench either.

It has nothing to do with who won.
.
It has everything to do with how the race was run.

Nothing makes me laugh more then reading a message board and listening to all the liberal cry babies! It sure makes for a great laugh...So your guy lost. If your so turned of by it, move to another state that better supports your leftist beliefs...Maybe if you guys didn't spend so much time crying, and actually got out your voters, you would have one...Ahh well, better luck in 10 years :-)

It's broke and it needs fixing.

As flawed as it is, no one has come up with a better system than "one man, one vote" (substitute person for man if you are offended, I'm not sexist, just old school, but not so old school that I still do embrace universal sufferage). Sure money's a problem. Politicians have been tinkering with campaign finance reform for as long as I can remember, fouling it up more every time they try. It seems as though they try to get some advantage for themselves so that they can get re-elected until they die. Term limits would go a long way toward fixing what wrong with campaign finance. Fresh minds, new ideas.

Well I guess that would have to be determined. I would hope we could look at the other states and take the best aspects of each.
I would guess there would be a mix of attorneys, business people, trades, citizens, etc.
I'm confident we could come up with a better system.

Who would sit on these panels, lawyers? The legislature has had a lot of lawyers in it over the years writting laws that result in extra work for lawyers. How much the worse if they could dictate who sits on the Supreme Court.

Just a Governor's appointment won't keep politics out of it, obviously, that would only make it worse.
.
What would improve the process is what would take place before the Governor even got a short list to pick from.
A diversified committee would submit the short list of candidates based on experience, qualifications, etc,.
Possibly with other criteria and oversight.
It works well in the majority of other states.

The "partisan" issue isn't what mattered to me as much as the use of such a negative smear campaign filled with lies. If a true Republican running on Republican issues had won, I would not have a problem, but when the guy has outside sources funding a huge smear campaign on his behalf, I have to think that he does not have much to offer other than being cozy with the right rich and powerful people. If he was truly the better candidate then let him tell us exactly why. Did anyone listen to their debate? All I got from Gableman was that he would do the opposite of Butler... not what he would really do. He turned every question into an attack on his opponent rather than answering it for himself.

If we could count on the Governor to appoint a non-partisan, qualified jurist, then he would have done so when he instead appointed Louis Butler, who ran for the Supreme Court in the past, and has now lost twice. Complaining about a partisan winning this election is like complaining that a horse won the Kentucky Derby.

Thanks, janesvillemom, for stating the facts I didn't have time to type today. I guess we'll just have to see what happens over the next ten years. If there was a way to take the money out of politics, Wisconsin and the country would be a better place. Special interests on both sides of the isle have ruined our democracy.

This race is a perfect example of why we need campaign finance reform in Wisconsin. There is something wrong when powerful lobbies such as WMC or WEAC exert disproportional influence on elections. The Legislature needs to reign in special interest money and issue ads. It just proves that votes don't win elections, it is money buying media that wins elections.

I have mixed feelings on electing Supreme Court Justices. But if we want to go toward a vetting, nomination and Senate confirmation process, then lets not stop there. The DPI Superintendent must become a cabinet level Department of Education Secretary.....OK WEAC, now that your heart has started beating again be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.

I think this was one of those races where nobody really liked either candidate, but had to decide which one was the least distasteful. Then, as pondermuch so wryly noted, just hold their noses and mark the ballots.
Call me naïve, but I think if there had been a truly independent candidate – a constitutional scholar without a history of judicial activism or ties to any big money interests – and they had run a “clean”, positive campaign, he or she would have had a real shot at this. I wish somebody would try that sometime. There are lots of exceptionally qualified people out there who never make onto the ballots. It would sure feel good to go in and vote without having to choose the lesser of two evils.

Who do you think funded Gableman's smear campaign?
Read this:http://clydewinter.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/louis-butler-v-michael-gableman/

"None of these (and other) extremely well-funded mud-slinging campaign ads have been unable to find any sleazy allegations or implications about Justice Butler that stand up to simple fact checking. That is pretty good evidence that there is actually nothing for them to find, and that they are hoping that we, the people, won’t care enough to find out the truth before voting."

"It depicted Gableman as “a former prosecutor who has gone toe-to-toe with the arsonists, sex predators, domestic abusers, and white collar criminals who belong in jail.” Ready for a reality check? In three years in Ashland County, Gableman prosecuted exactly one arson case, and that case was ordered an acquittal. In 19 felony child abuse cases prosecuted by Gableman, 3 were dismissed, and 13 were allowed to plead to misdemeanors. Only three went to trial, and two of those three were found not guilty. There goes Gableman, toe-to-toe with criminals."

You've been duped!

Funny how this is a non-partisan race, but it's all about the whiny liberal left and the greedy conservative right. What a joke. The divide in this country is nauseating.
Maybe we should just split the country into 25 liberal states and 25 conservative states. Then would everybody be happy???? Probably not. We'd fight over who gets Hawaii.

Congrats to Justice Gableman. You will represent the people who voted for you like myself, well. And for you people who think he will represent big business...Grow up! Pheasanthunter, you were right on. It always amazes me how the liberal left always tries to preach tolerance and respect, but when things go the other way they turn into intollerant whiny babies. No class what so ever.

The majority of states have some type of merit nomination / appointment process for Supreme Court Justices.
It's time for Wisconsin to see the light and adopt a similar process.
It's not a matter of sour grapes - it's a matter of common sense.
.
I believe a process could be instituted that would truly minimize politics and emphasize qualifications.

If we didn't have "corporate greed" to offset "liberal giveaways" we would soon find ourselves in a financial crisis we couldn't get out of. It is the new check and balance in our government.

Corporate/GOP greed has already bought Washington, now they have moved to the states. Sad day.

Can we get off the "corporate greed" whine for once? Maybe people did not want killers turned loose on perceived technicalities, or rapists given more consideration than their victims. Calling Justice-Elect Gableman a partisan is a joke, considering Butler has been appointed to the bench by a far-left governor and lost! That's as funny as Judge Neubauer being called a moderate while her husband is rasing money for Obama. Liberals can only sing one tune, and it is getting old. The play for the 21st century won't be "Arsenic and Old Lace", it will be "Class Warfare and Liberal Hypocrisy."

"Democracy ... is a system of self-determination. It's the right to make the wrong choice."- John Patrick. This election proves once again that bad candidates are often elected when good people fail to vote. Corporate greed, fear-mongering, and slime will reign until people realize those who would suppress freedom and justice always do so in the name of law and order.

I agree that judges shouldn't be elected, but what would be a better way? If they're appointed, they're "Gov. Doyle's man," or whoever the Gov. is at the time. The issue is that judges are supposed to be nonpartisan and it's obvious that Gableman is anything but. I'm happy (sarcastic) everyone gets to keep their assault rifles and that gays will have to continue to live in shame. Folks, we can't keep doing things the way they've been done in the past. It does nothing to move our society forward. Being progressive to me means treating everyone as equal and helping improve the quality of life for everyone, not just the folks with all the money.

Justice Butler acted like a child last night, took his ball, and went home. When the late numbers broke, and his defeat was sealed, he left the campaign headquaters after moments earlier telling the faithful that it would be "a long night."

The media then announced that he had left, and there would be no statements. Sounds like a liberal temper tantrum to me. If he was not big enough to stand up to defeat, how could we expect him to be big enough to rule on our laws? You lost Mr. Butler, now grow up! Another political appointment awaits you!

Part of "the whole picture" is treating people with respect and dignity. Calling them dupes does nothing constructive. All sides of the political spectrum have something to offer. Close your mind if you must, but don't expect things to get better.

It really has nothing to do with "my candidate" losing. I truly believe Gableman is bad for Wisconsin as a whole. His campaign money came largely from out of state big business interests. He became a judge through quid-pro-quo practices, not performance and credibility. His ads were extremely misleading and disingenuous. I feel that Gableman duped many in Wisconsin who will believe what they hear without doing any fact-checking on their own. For Wisconsin and even this country to turn things around, we have to start looking at the whole picture and not just singular issues.

Court loses credibility? Perhaps. Would it have credibility with Linda Clifford and Louis Butler in the pocket of the state bar? Depends on your political stripe, I guess. Hey, I held my nose and voted Butler, but this event will be forgotten in a week. Supreme Court judges shouldn't be elected, period.
Again, enough with liberals using the guilt trip and insulting the brainpower of conservatives. I'm no expert, but the "insult strategy" of the far left has only set back their efforts. "Hey, stupid, change your mind to my way of thinking." Does that seem persuasive?

Another shot to Jim Doyle's man.

This election pretty well destroyed the credibility of the State Supreme Court. We can expect more negative ads in non-partisan races from here on out because they work. Rationale discourse has been effectively drowned-out with mud slinging. I do not believe the end justifies the means.

So, your candidate lost. Is it necessary to suggest that voters are stupid if they don't agree with you? This is why politics in America has become so nasty. You lost today, you may win tomorrow, take winning and losing like a grownup. Magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat.

Proof that being dishonest and a biggot can get you anywhere in this world.

Gableman is underqualified and extremely partisan. This could have tremendous negative impact on Wisconsin for years.

For those of you who voted for Gableman based on a single issue, thanks for you selfishness and nearsightedness. I hope you enjoy the regression we'll see back to the dark ages.

What's worse, big business electing a candidate or the trial lawyers theirs? I would rather have a few jobs in the state than having us be a litigation capital of the US.

Negative ads work; pass it on.

mojoaces: Amen, you've said it perfectly. Another blow against Wisconsin progressivism.

Once again Wisconsin voters were duped into voting for a judge who represents big business and corporate America by outside conservative groups, the same cast of characters who tricked the same voters into voting for a judge(Annette Zeigler), who showed clear bias in ruling over cases she had no business sitting on the bench for.The State supreme court had even looked into possible prosecution of Annette Zeigler over those very same rulings. Way to go Wisconsin , you've been mastered by the corporate puppeteers again!

Considering how nasty this campaign was it must be pretty bitter for old Louey to go down in such a close vote. Pretty special company to be the only incumbent supreme court judge to loose in 41 years. Where that judge only lost because of the public out cry over letting the Milwaukee Braves leave Wisconsin....Has one ever lost before that? Some history buff may be able to answer that one....Ahh well, don't let the door hit you on the way out Louey.

This campaign for the Justice seat was pretty slimey. Negative advertising seems to be a hallmark of Republican and Democratic politics in Wisconsin. I voted for Gableman instead of Butler because the NRA recommended him for his stance on gun freedoms, but if there had been any independent on the ballot, I would have voted NO to both major parties.