Primary Preview: 3 Vying for Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat

Three candidates — Ed Fallone, Vince Megna and incumbent Pat Roggensack — are vying for a 10-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice in the Feb. 19 primary election.

The job is non-partisan, but there's a stark contrast between these candidates. The top two vote-getters will square off in the April 2 general election.

Ed Fallone, 48, of Whitefish Bay, is a Marquette University Law professor who teaches constitutional, corporate and criminal law. He has never been a judge before.

Still, Fallone has called out the Supreme Court justices for playing politics and becoming dysfunctional. A number of liberal and progressive groups have endorsed Fallone, including the AFL-CIO. Fallone also founded Centro Legal, a firm that helps needy families get legal representation, and he signed the petition to start a recall against Gov. Scott Walker.

Vince Megna, 68, of Menomonee Falls, is a lemon law lawyer who works for Aiken & Scoptur, S.C., Milwaukee. Megna says he's a liberal Democract. Megna has also never been a judge before.

He is running for State Supreme Court because he believes it has been “bought and paid for by outside influences,” including the Americans for Prosperity and the Koch Brothers. Megna didn’t plan on raising any money until after the primaries and said he hates asking people for money. He doesn’t believe out of state campaign money should be accepted by candidates, believes in stronger consumer protection laws, is against voter suppression laws and for equal pay for women.

Pat Roggensack of Madison has served on the State Supreme Court since 2003.

While the polls show Roggensack is leading the race, she has been criticized for taking campaign contributions from out-of-state donors, including the Walton family, which owns Walmart, and millionaires Betsy and Dick DeVos.

Roggensack, who has been described as a conservative, said she focused on how the court could serve the public, more specifically on how quickly decisions get handed down and set up the first Supreme Court Finance Committee.