Dane County Circuit Court Branch 1 candidate Huma Ahsan spoke with The Badger Herald to discuss her campaign, focused on fighting for and hearing individuals’ stories ahead of the April 7 election.
Ahsan is running against Judge Ben Jones, who was selected by Gov. Tony Evers to replace Justice Susan Crawford after she was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in last year’s spring election, according to his campaign website.
Q: What should voters know about your platform?
A: I am an attorney, immigration attorney. I feel like I’m the most qualified candidate. I have over 25 years of experience. I have spent my whole life representing individuals, particularly people who are unseen and unheard. I bring my background and my experience with me to the bench.
I started as a legal aid attorney 25 years ago. I represented class action lawsuits, pretty much representing tenants rights issues with the Minot Mobile Home Association. I created that after an out-of-state corporation came in and bought up three of the five mobile home parks. I have represented domestic violence victims and sexual assault survivors. I’m the only candidate that has actually done that.
I was the chief justice of the Turtle Mountain Court of Appeals for many years, and I rebuilt that court system. I have over 50 to 70 published opinions. I worked at the [University of Wisconsin] Law School [at] the Great Lakes Indian Law Center. For the last 15 or 16 years, I have been the owner and operator of Madison Immigration Law, where I’ve been representing immigrants and other people who are unseen and unheard and throughout our justice system.
Q: Tell me a little bit about why you decided to run for Dane County Circuit Court?
A: A year ago, particularly, I didn’t really have any plans on running. I’ve never run for anything before in my life. So all of this is fairly new. But, this last year has been troubling, in immigration particularly, when we’ve seen people targeted we’ve seen the Twin Cities and Chicago. We’ve seen people abducted for just being, looking like the other based upon their skin color. We’ve seen our U.S. Supreme Court back away from its obligations on protecting individual rights.
As I looked at that, I realized, the only thing that we’re going to have if we continue on, if the Supreme Court continues on like that, all we’re going to have are these local court systems to protect our constitutional rights.
Q: What is one thing you wish voters knew about you and/or this election that they might not already be aware of?
A: My campaign isn’t a campaign because I have to run, I own and operate Madison Immigration Law. I’m very happy here. I’m the only candidate that has actually built a law firm here in Madison. But my point is that I didn’t have to get into this race. I’m choosing to stand up because I really see that our democracy really needs a judge that represents the people, and that’s what my campaign is about. It’s just me and six moms running this campaign.
My parents are immigrants, I’m a child of immigrants, so I know what it’s like to be the other in the classroom. I know what it’s like not to be seen and not to be heard. So I’m trying to, particularly for my kids and my kids’ friends, to show them when times get hard and we have these dark times ahead of us, particularly with what we’re seeing in the Twin Cities and all around us, it’s important that they stand up. It’s important that they be the adult in the room, and that’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to show them this is how you be the adult in the room.
Q: Many registered voters lapse during nonpresidential election cycles. What will voters miss out on by not voting in the Dane County Circuit court elections?
A: This election is going to have historic consequences. As a candidate that represents individuals and individuals all of my life, their vote matters, particularly in a local election like this. They have the power is what they’re missing out on.
[The judge] decides what are the terms that people are going to get married on, what are the terms that people are going to get divorced on, what are evictions in Dane County going to look like, how much are damages for those evictions going to look like, car accidents and constitutional issues. Those are some of the types of issues that they are missing out on by not voting.
