Justice Crooks to seek re-election

State Supreme Court Justice Patrick Crooks, who had been expected to retire next year, will announce Friday that he will run for another 10-year term on the court, the Xoff Files has learned.

Crooks was calling attorneys Thursday to tell them he had decided to run again.

A number of attorneys and judges across the state were considering entering the race for Crooks' seat. One of them, Madison attorney Linda Clifford, told WisPolitics yesterday she might run even if Crooks got into the race. She is the only active candidate who had filed a campaign committee and reported $203,000 in the bank, of which about $140,000 was her personal contribution.

Mark Frankel, a former Dane County circuit judge, had been actively lining up support and endorsements from prosecutors, judges, labor groups, and lawyers, but had not taken any formal steps yet and probably will opt out of the race. He and others may focus now on the 2007 race, when Justice Jon Wilcox is expected to retire.

Others who were looking at the race, assuming Crooks was out, included Circuit Judges Michael Brennan of Milwaukee, Annette Ziegler of Washington County, and Donald Zeidmulder of Brown County.

Crooks, 67, of Green Bay, is a conservative who had been a Brown County circuit judge for 20 years before being elected to the Supreme Court in 1996, winning a seven-candidate primary and defeating Appeals Court Judge Ralph Adam Fine in the general election.

The primary for Crooks' seat is in February if there are more than two candidates, with the general election in April.

UPDATE: Followup post: "Enough Crooks on the bench?"