MADISON, Wis. — A state Supreme Court election that offered the public its first formal opportunity to weigh in on the national fight over union rights was very close in the early going Tuesday.
Initial returns showed incumbent Justice David Prosser in a dead heat with challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in a race that Democrats have tried to turn into a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s contentious new union-rights law.
Kloppenburg’s campaign has surged of late as supporters worked to focus anger over the new union law onto the conservative-leaning Prosser. They hope a Kloppenburg victory will tilt the Supreme Court to the left and set the stage for the court to strike down the law.
The law strips most public workers of nearly all their collective-bargaining rights.
Walker has said the move is needed to help balance the state’s budget. Democrats say it’s designed to cripple unions, which are among their strongest campaign supporters.
Election officials in the Democratic strongholds of Madison and Milwaukee noted remarkably high voter interest in the race.
The seven-member high court is officially nonpartisan. But Prosser, who is seeking a second 10-year term, is seen as part of a conservative four-justice majority.
Kloppenburg, an assistant state attorney general, has been presented as an alternative that would tilt the court’s ideological balance to the left.
Democrats supporting Kloppenburg, who typically would be at a large disadvantage facing an incumbent, have tried to tap into the anger that prompted tens of thousands of protesters to flood Madison as Walker pushed his union plan.
The law eventually passed but is on hold as legal challenges make their way through the courts. Many expect that the state Supreme Court ultimately will decide the issue.
Prosser has said he doesn’t necessarily agree with the law. Still, bitter Democrats have portrayed him as a Walker clone, and Kloppenburg’s campaign has gained traction over the last few weeks.
Outside groups, including the Tea Party Express and national labor organizations, have poured at least $3.1 million into the race, which initially wasn’t expected to be competitive.
