Annette Ziegler

Annette Kingsland Ziegler (born March 6, 1964) is an American attorney and judge. She is a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving since 2007.

Annette K. Ziegler
Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office August 1, 2007
Preceded by	Jon P. Wilcox
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Washington Circuit, Branch 2
In office April 21, 1997 – July 31, 2007
Appointed by	Tommy K. Thompson
Preceded by	James B. Schwalbach
Succeeded by	James K. Muehlbauer
Personal details
Born	Annette Marie Kingsland (1964-03-06) March 6, 1964 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Jeffrey John (J.J.) Ziegler
Children	Keller Charlie Drew
Mother	Joyce Kingsland
Father	Rex R. Kingsland
Alma mater	Hope College (B.A.), Marquette University Law School, (J.D.)

Early life and education

Ziegler was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Joyce and Rex R. Kingsland,[1] and graduated from Grand Rapids's Forest Hills Central High School in 1982. She received a bachelor's degree in business administration and psychology from Hope College in 1986, and a Juris Doctor from Marquette University Law School in 1989. While in law school she was a staff editor of the Marquette Law Review, as well as a recipient of the Dean's Award.

Early career

After graduating from law school, Ziegler was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1989. Before serving in the judiciary, she worked as a federal prosecutor, an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. She was also a pro bono Special Assistant District Attorney in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office. In private practice, she was a civil private practice attorney for several years at the law firm of O'Neil, Cannon, Hollman & DeJong, SC.

Wisconsin Circuit Court

In 1997, Governor Tommy Thompson appointed Ziegler to the Washington County Circuit Court, in the Branch 2 vacancy created by the death of Judge James B. Schwalbach. She was elected to a full term in April 1998 and reelected in 2004, both times unopposed. She then ran the Supreme Court seat being vacated by retiring Justice Jon P. Wilcox.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Ziegler faced Madison attorney Linda Clifford in the April 2007 general election, after they were the top two finishers in the February primary. The campaign was contentious. Ziegler asserted that Clifford's lack of judicial experience made her ill-prepared for the Supreme Court; she also raised concerns about two of Clifford's campaign workers misrepresenting themselves to law enforcement officials. Clifford asserted that Ziegler had ruled in cases where she had a clear conflict of interest.[2]

It came to light during the campaign that Ziegler had ruled on roughly a dozen cases affecting a bank of which her husband was a paid board member, and on 22 cases involving companies in which Ziegler personally owned more than $50,000 of stock.[3]

On April 3, 2007, Ziegler defeated Clifford in the election, 58% to 42%.[4] Her campaign and allies outspent Clifford $4.1 million to $1.7 million. The influential business lobbying associations Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Wisconsin Club for Growth spent $2.6 million in support of Ziegler.

Following her election, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a 5 to 1 decision, took the unprecedented step of publicly reprimanding Ziegler for willful violations of the code of judicial conduct by presiding over those cases where she had an apparent conflict of interest.[5] Ziegler's contentious election campaign and subsequent reprimand began an era of acrimony and politicization of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[6]

In 2015, Ziegler joined the 4-person majority that ended the John Doe investigation into possibly illegal coordination between the 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Scott Walker and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Wisconsin Club for Growth. The court ruled that such coordination, if it had occurred, would be legal. The sweeping ruling upended Wisconsin campaign finance rules, enabling close coordination between campaigns and political action committees, which do not have to disclose their donors.[7]

In 2017, she joined a 5 to 2 decision to strike down a rule that would have required judges to recuse from cases where they had received lawful campaign contributions from one of the interested parties.[8]

Ziegler was reelected in 2017 without opposition. Her term expires on July 31, 2027.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Circuit Court (1998, 2004)

Wisconsin Circuit Court, Washington Circuit, Branch 2 Election, 1998[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Nonpartisan	Annette K. Ziegler (incumbent)	6,364	100.0%
Total votes			6,364	100.0%

Wisconsin Circuit Court, Washington Circuit, Branch 2 Election, 2004[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Nonpartisan	Annette K. Ziegler (incumbent)	12,067	99.82%
		Write-ins	22	0.18%
Total votes			12,089	100.0%

Wisconsin Supreme Court (2007, 2017)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
Primary Election, February 20, 2007[11]
	Nonpartisan	Annette K. Ziegler	164,916	57.04%
	Nonpartisan	Linda M. Clifford	78,501	27.15%
	Nonpartisan	Joseph Sommers	44,835	15.51%
		Scattering	860	0.30%
Total votes			506,517	100.0%
General Election, April 3, 2007[12]
	Nonpartisan	Annette K. Ziegler	487,422	58.61%
	Nonpartisan	Linda M. Clifford	342,371	41.17%
		Scattering	1,864	0.22%
Total votes			506,517	100.0%

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 2017[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
General Election, April 4, 2017
	Nonpartisan	Annette K. Ziegler (incumbent)	492,352	97.20%
		Scattering	14,165	2.80%
Total votes			506,517	100.0%

References

1. "Rex R. Kingsland Obituary". The Grand Rapids Press. December 24, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
2. Callender, David (2007-03-16). "Clifford Ad Assails Ziegler 'scandal'; It's Candidate's 1st Commercial". The Capital Times. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
3. "Poor Judgment Sinks Ziegler". Wisconsin State Journal. April 1, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
4. Marley, Patrick (2007-04-04). "Ziegler wins court seat; Expensive race ends with decisive victory". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
5. Hall, Dee J. (March 29, 2008). "Ziegler is given a public reprimand". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
6. Hall, Dee J. (January 29, 2011). "At state Supreme Court, conflict among the justices". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
7. Marley, Patrick; Spicuzza, Mary (July 16, 2015). "Wisconsin Supreme Court ends John Doe probe into Scott Walker's campaign". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
8. Marley, Patrick (April 20, 2017). "Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects recusal changes when campaign donors are litigants". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
9. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (April 22, 2004). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 855. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
10. Results of Spring General Election - 04/06/2004 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. April 22, 2004. p. 13. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
11. Results of Spring Primary Election - 02/20/2007 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. March 6, 2007. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
12. Results of Spring General Election - 04/03/2007 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. April 23, 2007. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
13. Canvass Results for 2017 Spring Election (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. April 4, 2017. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2019.

External links

• "Ziegler Faces Conflict Questions", Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, March 5, 2007
• "Judge Takes More Than Half of Votes", Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 20, 2007

Legal offices
Preceded by James B. Schwalbach	Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Washington Circuit, Branch 2 1997 – 2007	Succeeded by James K. Muehlbauer
Preceded by Jon P. Wilcox	Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court 2007 – present	Incumbent