Campaign Contributions

Dear Friend,

This is a request for a campaign contribution to help ensure Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson's re-election to the Supreme Court next spring.

After the last two judicial campaigns, you probably don't need a sermon on what's wrong with the way we elect judges in this state, or the embarrassingly small number of people who vote in judicial elections, or the tenor and content of the campaign advertisements sponsored by some organizations. We want to focus on what's right with the judicial system and, as the Chief Justice for almost twelve years, Shirley is very definitely one of the things that's right about this state's judicial system.

But we are not alone in our praise. Dean Joseph D. Kearney of the Marquette University School of Law described her as "prodigious in her energy and without question a national leader in the legal profession, having contributed, even beyond the cases in which she has participated, through law review articles, participation in the American Law Institute, and service as the 'Chief of the Chiefs'--that is, chief of the Association of State Supreme Court Justices. Indeed, Chief Justice Abrahamson has an international reputation. . . ." Jeffrey Toobin, a CNN senior legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer, characterized Shirley Abrahamson this month as a "distinguished chief justice who is a legend all over the country." And she has been cited in Great American Judges: An Encyclopedia as one of the top 100 judges in the history of the United States.

Making the Wisconsin Supreme Court partisan and beholden to special interests is not what the citizens of Wisconsin want or deserve. But we all know how powerful those 30-second ads can be. The Chief Justice wants to use the campaign to talk about the critical issues facing the judicial system in this state--particularly the need to ensure the independence and integrity of the judiciary and to improve the accountability and effectiveness of the legal system for the public.

We need your help to bring the Chief Justice's experience and ideas to the voters. We need your contribution to ensure that Chief Justice Abrahamson will be able to mount the type of stellar campaign that we have seen her conduct in the past. The last time Shirley ran for re-election, she received 63 percent of the vote, winning every single county but one.

We ask that you send a contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50--or whatever you can to help. We seek your support for Shirley to ensure that she continues her work, for all of us, on the Court.

Because of the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct, Chief Justice Abrahamson cannot and will not ask for money for her campaign. But we can ask, and we sincerely ask, that you consider sending a contribution today to re-elect one of Wisconsin's finest public servants. Join us in renewing our commitment to excellence and integrity in the state's court system. Thank you for your support and for considering an early contribution.

Helen Bie, Former National Republican Committee Woman
E. Michael McCann, Adjunct Professor of Law, Marquette Universtiy Law School
Richard J. Phelps, Chair, Re-election Finance Committee

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To contribute online by secure credit card transaction, click any of the contributions buttons on our site. If you would like to make a contribution by check, follow the instructions below:

Please make checks payable to:

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson Re-election Campaign

Contributions should be mailed to:

Abrahamson Re-election Campaign
P.O. Box 2378
Madison, WI 53701-2378

Please print the Contribution PDF document to include with your mail-in contribution.

Your contribution is greatly appreciated!

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This solicitation of funds is made by the registered campaign committee "Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson Re-election Committee," not by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson herself.

Total donations of $100 or more in any one calendar year require the contributor to provide the contributor's occupation and employer's name and address. Occupation and employer are required for campaign disclosure purposes. No corporate contributions are allowed.