Dallet Promises To Recuse Herself From Special Elections Case

State Supreme Count candidate Rebecca Dallet says she’d recuse herself from any case involving a current group led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, chaired by Holder, sued Gov. Scott Walker for not calling special elections to fill two vacant legislative seats.

The NDRC also spent at least $140,000 backing Dallet — a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge — in her campaign for state Supreme Court.

Dallet said if she wins the election and the case were to go before the state Supreme Court, she’d step away from it.

“That’s the kind of recusal we need from judges and justices,” she said during a forum Monday at the Milwaukee Bar Association.

Dallet repeatedly called on her opponent, Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock, to promise to recuse himself from hearing cases involving Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. WMC, the state’s largest business association, has spent more than $1 million supporting Screnock.

Screnock later told news media he won’t make a blanket promise.

“That’s a question decided on a case by case basis, as the issue presents itself,” Screnock said.

Both Dallet and Screnock spent much of the forum debating campaign finance issues, with Dallet saying that the business and conservative groups backing Screnock are “trying to buy him.”

“They have been buying justices for the last decade, and we need to stop it. Now, why would my opponent think it’s okay? Because they’re buying him,” Dallet said, adding that his contributors expect favorable rulings.

In response, Screnock said the groups want certainty.

“They understand that we need stability and predictability in the law, that we only have when we have justices who will simply uphold the rule of law,” he said.

Dallet has received support from several groups with liberal leanings.

The Supreme Court election will take place on Tuesday, April 3.