Abrahamson, 75, won by a margin of 20 percentage points, gaining 60 percent of the vote with Koschnick claming 40 percent, with 71 percent of precincts reporting statewide as of press time.
At the end of this 10-year term, Abrahamson, who has served as a Supreme Court justice since her appointment in 1976, will be the longest serving judge in the court’s history.
“This is the fourth time I have gathered on a night like this … all of us committed to the principle of fair and impartial justice,” Abrahamson said in her acceptance speech Tuesday night at the Majestic Theatre. “Never before has one of my campaigns been so important … win or lose I would have no regrets, not about this campaign and not about my service to the judicial system of this state.”
Throughout her speech, Abrahamson thanked her supporters — including Republicans, Democrats and Independents — and her campaign staff for their outreach and fundraising efforts during the last few months.
According to the justice, the nearly $1.4 million she raised during the campaign came from donors who contributed an average of less than $250.
Throughout the campaign, Koschnick, who described himself as a conservative judge, attacked Abrahamson for incorporating her beliefs into her judgments instead of sticking to the law, while Abrahamson continually insisted she had no stance on controversial issues like gay marriage and stem cell research.
At the end of the campaign, Koschnick called Abrahamson to concede and offer the chief justice his congratulations.
“Ours has been a spirited race, and I am grateful for the opportunity we had to discuss the role of our state’s courts with the voters,” Koschnick said in a statement. “I wish Justice Abrahamson all the best as she continues to serve Wisconsin’s citizens as their chief justice.”
According to Koschnick Campaign Manager Seamus Flaherty, the lack of funds earned by the judge was a major set back throughout the campaign.
Abrahamson raised nearly four times as many funds as Koschnick during the campaign.
“One of the biggest frustrations would be on the fundraising level — that helps you get a candidate’s message out,” Flaherty said. “When we got the message out, people responded positively to it. As far as the campaign and how he conducted himself, we couldn’t be more proud.”
Koschnick expressed similar concerns in his statement, saying though he was aware of his “underdog status,” he wanted Wisconsin citizens to have a choice in the election.
Despite their differences, both candidates continually expressed their distaste for the third-party advertisements and negative campaigning that have become a major part of judicial state elections in the past few campaigns.
During her acceptance speech, Abrahamson criticized the attack ads. In his statement, Koschnick said he was proud to have a campaign run without special interest involvement.
In another statewide race decided Tuesday, Tony Evers was elected state superintendent, succeeding Elizabeth Burmaster and beating challenger Rose Fernandez.
