When JoAnne Kloppenburg decided to run for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in December, she was a relatively unknown attorney with the Department of Justice. In the aftermath of the chaos surrounding Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law, her campaign against incumbent Justice David Prosser has become the focus of the anti-Walker movement, despite her insistence she will be nonpartisan on the bench.
In his re-election campaign, Prosser has emphasized his 18 years of experience as a Republican state legislator before serving as a Supreme Court justice for the past 12 years.
Although Prosser describes himself as a judicial conservative, he has stressed his independent and impartial rulings on cases.
""Look at the actual voting record on the court and people will see I'm in the center of the court,"" Prosser said on ""Upfront with Mike Gousha."" ""I am the independent on the court; I am the unpredictable one on the court.""
Kloppenburg, who has worked at the Wisconsin DOJ since 1989, became Prosser's challenger after advancing in the February primary. Like Prosser, Kloppenburg promises to be an independent and unbiased voice on the court.
""I am not running to be a member on any bloc of the court; I am running to be a member of a court that works as a collective entity to decide the most important legal issues before the state in a completely independent and impartial manner,"" Kloppenburg said.
Kloppenburg has also stressed the importance of separation of powers, saying the judicial branch needs to set politics aside before making decisions.
""All of the politicking and partisanship that has taken place over the budget repair has taken place where they belong in the legislative and the executive branches, but people do not want that to spread out over on to the courts,"" Kloppenburg said.
Due to Walker's controversial collective bargaining proposal the election is quickly becoming a referendum on Walker's agenda.
Despite the candidates' promises to be unbiased, pro-Walker groups and Republicans such as Sarah Palin have endorsed Prosser, while anti-Walker groups, unions and Democrats are supporting Kloppenburg.
UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said the budget repair bill ""has linked the Supreme Court to a partisan battle more than we've seen in any Supreme Court race."" He added that past elections have seen various right and left wing interest groups supporting certain candidates, but not of this intensity or magnitude.
Kloppenburg, however, insisted her supporters are not necessarily partisan and that they support her because she will be unbiased.
At a Kloppenburg rally Sunday, supporters said they were voting for her for a variety of reasons.
Madison resident Emily Theisfem, who attended Sunday's rally, said she believed Kloppenburg would make non-partisan rulings with the court.
""I am supporting her because she is independent and she will make her decisions with the Supreme Court as an independent,"" she said.
However, UW-Madison graduate student Maxwell Collins, who was also at the rally, said his opposition to Walker and the budget repair law is the main reason he is voting for Kloppenburg.
""It sends a message to Walker that people are paying attention,"" he said.
With questions of constitutionality surrounding the bill, it appears the case is destined for the state Supreme Court, meaning the outcome of the election will likely impact how the court rules.
Franklin said this race might influence which direction the court leans as a whole, but both the right and left have wrongly painted the candidates as partisan judges.
""I think some of the rhetoric has been a little too quick to imply that Kloppenburg would necessarily side with the unions and the Democrats or that Prosser would necessarily side with the governor,"" Franklin said.
