Koschnick to request ad stop running

MADISON (AP) - Supreme Court candidate Randy Koschnick said Thursday he will ask television stations to stop airing an attack ad run by a special interest group that he called "demonstrably false."

The Jefferson County circuit judge sent a letter to his opponent, Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, asking her to join him in calling for the ad to be pulled.

But Abrahamson's campaign declined. If Koschnick has a problem with the ad, he should take care of it himself, campaign manager Heather Colburn wrote in a response.

"If there is any inaccuracy in any ad, it should be corrected," Colburn said in her letter. "If Judge Koschnick believes any ad raises issues, it is up to him and his campaign to decide whether and how to pursue them."

Pressed several times in an interview, Abrahamson declined to condemn or support the assertions in the ad or elaborate on her campaign's letter.

Koschnick's campaign adviser Seamus Flaherty said Abrahamson's silence on the issue only serves to undermine voter confidence in the process.

The ad which started Tuesday in Milwaukee and other markets is being run by the liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee. It draws a contrast between Abrahamson and Koschnick, saying she has protected victims while he has sided against them and with corporate special interests.

The pro-Abrahamson comments refer to decisions she made in cases allowing a boy to sue over lead paint injuries even though he could not prove which company made the product that sickened him and overturning the state's $350,000 cap on medical malpractice damages.

The Greater Wisconsin Committee cited no court cases to back up its claims about Koschnick. However, in supporting documentation the group argued that his campaign criticism of the pertinent Abrahamson rulings shows he sides against victims and with special interests, the wealthy and powerful.

The group defended its ad as being truthful.

Koschnick's letter to Abrahamson sent Thursday incorrectly said the Greater Wisconsin Committee admitted in an Associated Press article that there was no support in his record for the ad's claims. The GWC did not say that in the article.

"At no time did anyone from Greater Wisconsin Committee 'admit' or 'agree' that there was no proof for its claims," said the group's spokeswoman Michelle McGrorty.

Koschnick's letter "says we admitted to the AP that we had no support for the ad," McGrorty said. "We never made such a statement and the AP article never said that."

The group's attorney, Mike Wittenwyler, also sent Koschnick a letter asking him to immediately stop making "false statements."

Flaherty, Koschnick's adviser, declined to comment on that issue.

Koschnick said he was asking that the ad be pulled because there is no support in his record that he sides with corporate special interests, the wealthy and powerful and against victims.

The election is April 7 and the winner will serve a 10-year term.

Abrahamson, 75, has been on the court since 1976 and has served as chief justice since 1996. Koschnick, 49, has been a judge for 10 years and previously worked as a public defender.