Races heat up for Abrahamson's seat, 3 state court judgeships.

Byline: Erika Strebel, erika.strebel@wislawjournal.com

As the April 2 general election approaches, the state's judicial races are heating up. This year, there are four contested races and 29 uncontested races.

Headlining ballots across the state is the race between District 2 Court of Appeals Judges Brian Hagedorn and Lisa Neubauer. Whoever wins will replace Justice Shirley Abrahamson, who is part of the court's liberal-leaning minority.

Hagedorn, who earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 2006, was appointed to the Court of Appeals by then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2015.

Before that, Hagedorn had spent four years as Walker's chief legal counsel and a year as a law clerk for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.

Hagedorn also worked as an assistant attorney general and attorney at Foley & Lardner.

Hagedorn recently won re-election in 2017, and his seat is up for election in 2023.

Neubauer, who earned her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1979, is also the chief judge for the state Court of Appeals.

She has served on the Court of Appeals bench since 2007, when she was appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle. Before her appointment to the bench, Neubauer was a partner and litigation attorney at Foley & Lardner and a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb.

Her seat on the Court of Appeals is up for election in 2020.

Should either be elected to the high court, Gov. Tony Evers willmost likely appoint someone to finish out the rest of the term.

Both have been running campaign advertisements. Hagedorn's first television ad started airing in February, calling attention to his adoption of a girl addicted to opioids. Neubauer's ad, which is mainly abouther judicial endorsements and time on the Court of Appeals, started running in March.

Soon after Neubauer released her ad, a group founded by ex-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced it would give $350,000 to two groups that are working to get Neubauer elected.

Outside groups so far plan to spend more than $400,000 to support either candidate, according to a March report from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks election spending.

Although the race is officially non-partisan, Hagedorn is backed by conservative groups; Neubauer's backing comes from liberal groups, including Planned Parenthood.

Hagedorn recently made headlines for founding a Christian private school where students can be expelled if they are gay. Afterward, the...

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