1925 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

1925 Wisconsin Supreme Court election
April 7, 1925
 
Candidate E. Ray Stevens John C. Kleist
Popular vote 256,431 133,164
Percentage 65.81% 34.17%
Justice before election

Burr W. Jones

 Elected Justice

E. Ray Stevens

The 1925 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 7, 1925, to elect a justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term. The incumbent justice, Burr W. Jones, declined to seek re-election.

Background

See also: 1925 Wisconsin elections

A regularly-scheduled election for a full term, the election was part of the spring general election held on April 7, 1925, for a ten-year term on the court. The incumbent judge, Burr W. Jones, first appointed in 1920, declined to seek re-election. E. Ray Stevens (judge of the Wisconsin circuit court for the 9th circuit) defeated John C. Kleist (former district attorney of Calumet County).

Candidates

Campaign

Newspaper advertisement for Stevens' candidacy

Prior to both of their judicial careers, from 1896 to 1903, the retiring incumbent, Burr Jones, and candidate, E. Ray Stevens, had been law partners in Madison, running the law firm Jones & Stevens.[4] Stevens' campaign advertised endorsements from both of the state's incumbent U.S. senators (Robert M. La Follette Sr. and Irvine Lenroot); incumbent governor John J. Blaine and former governors Emanuel L. Philipp and Francis E. McGovern. In addition to these Republican state leaders, an endorsement was also touted from Martin L. Lueck (a prominent Democratic politician in the state). The campaign's advertisements also claimed that each Republican and Democrat in the 57th Wisconsin Legislature had endorsed his candidacy, and also touted supported from "farm and labor, women and soldier organizations."[5]

Kleist, then a lawyer who resided in Milwaukee,[6] had previously served for two-terms as the elected district attorney of Calumet County in the 1880s.[1] He had since his tenure as district attorney run for various judicial and political offices, losing each campaign.[2] He ran several times for seats on the Wisconsin circuit courts in Milwaukee County, but lost all of them.[1] He first ran in 1910 for a Wisconsin circuit court seat but lost to Franz C. Eschweiler. He later was the nominee of the Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin in the 1911 United States Senate election in Wisconsin. Prior to his 1925 campaign, he had run for the same seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1922, losing to Jones.[3]

During the campaign, The Capital Times described Kleist as being the "candidate of the Ku Klux Klan". In 1924, he had been expelled from the Social–Democratic Party over his alleged ties to the Klan.[2] During his campaign, he was supported by the Anti-Saloon League, which promoted his candidacy in the Wisconsin edition of the The American Issue.[7]

Results

1925 Wisconsin Supreme Court election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
General election, April 7, 1925
Nonpartisan E. Ray Stevens 256,431 65.81
Nonpartisan John C. Kleist 133,164 34.17
Scattering 73 0.02
Plurality 123,267 31.63
Total votes 389,668 100

References

  1. ^ a b c "J.C. Kleist, Loyal Santa Cruzan, Dies". Santa Cruz Evening News. July 31, 1931. Retrieved 28 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "John C. Kleist Dies In West". The La Crosse Tribune at Newspapers.com. The Associated Press. July 31, 1931. Retrieved 28 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Record Ballot Forecasted In City Election". Wisconsin State Journal. April 2, 1922. Retrieved 28 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Berryman, John R., ed. (1898). History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Vol. 2. Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. pp. 362-365. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  5. ^ "advertisement". La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press. April 2, 1925. p. 12. Retrieved 29 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Ostermeier, Dr Eric (13 January 2025). "Wisconsin Supreme Court 2025 Election by the Numbers". Smart Politics (University of Minnesota). Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Anti-Saloon Publication Aided Kleist". The Capital Times. April 9, 1925. Retrieved 28 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Judge Stevens Received Majority of 123,267 Votes". Iron County Miner. May 8, 1925. p. 1. Retrieved December 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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