State Supreme Court candidate Ed Fallone wants to change the rules governing justices who’ve received massive campaign contributions from groups that have a case before the high court.
In Friday’s debate, he said special interest groups should have to “think twice about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to support or attack a particular opponent.”
The law professor lashed out as his opponent, Justice Patience Roggensack, for her support of a 2009 recusal rule that allows recipient justices to stay on a case tied to a group, regardless of the size of its campaign contribution.
Roggensack said Fallone misinterpreted that decision saying it simply clarified the court’s long-standing policy that says campaign contributions, by themselves, are not enough to force a justice from a case.
The incumbent also accused Fallone of changing his stance on the issue. She said in a January interview on Wisconsin Eye, Fallone supposedly said he did not want to change the rule. He responded that she misinterpreted his statement on the public affairs network.
How much money the candidates have on hand will soon be known. They have until midnight tonight to file their campaign finance reports with the Government Accountability Board. As of February’s filing, Fallone had almost $64,000 in his fund and Justice Pat Roggensack had $219,000.
AUDIO: Hear the Fallone/Roggensack exchange on recusal policy (5:44)