1931 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

none March 2025 March 2025 1931 Wisconsin Supreme Court election Wisconsin presidential no 1930 (special) 1933 April 7, 1931 Chester A. Fowler 1929 Blue Book (A24WTOUWVWECBI8C) 3x4.jpg Chester A. Fowler c0c0c0 254,534 46.87% John W. Reynolds Sr. 1929 Blue Book.jpg John W. Reynolds Sr. c0c0c0 230,902 42.52% 3x4.svg George L. Mensing c0c0c0 57,590 10.61% 1931 Wisconsin Supreme Court election results map by county.svg Fowler: #FFB580 40–50% #FF9A50 50–60% #EE8E50 60–70% #D69850 70–80% #B98A35 80–90%Reynolds: #7DDDDD 40–50% #51C2C2 50–60% #2AACAC 60–70% #009696 70–80%Tie: #D2B1D9 40–50% Justice Chester A. Fowler Chester A. Fowler 1930 Wisconsin Supreme Court special election 1930 (special) 1941 Wisconsin Supreme Court election 1941 The 1931 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 7, 1931, to elect a justice to a full ten-year seat the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Incumbent justice Chester A. Fowler won re-election, defeating two challengers. His strongest challenger was John W. Reynolds Sr., the state's attorney general who had unsuccessfully challenged Fowler the previous year in a special election for the same seat on the court. Background At the time, the court had a conservative ideological majority. Incumbent justice Chester A. Fowler had been one of five judges appointed by Governor Walter J. Kohler Sr. (himself a conservative member of the Republican Party) that had created this majority. Fowler had survived a special election the previous year, in which John W. Reynolds Sr. was one of his opponents. However, in order to retain his seat for a further ten-year term, he needed to win election again in 1931. The election coincided with a statewide ballot measure, a legislatively referred vote on whether driver's licenses should be issued through county clerks rather than through a state agency. It also coincided with nonpartisan local and sub-unit elections, including various lower court judicial races and mayoral elections. Candidates Chester A. Fowler, incumbent justice since 1929 George L. Mensing John W. Reynolds Sr., Wisconsin attorney general, unsuccessful candidate in the 1930 special election Ideologic leanings and political affiliations of candidates Fowler was a conservative member of the Republican Party. Reynolds was an ideological liberal, being a progressive member of the Republican Party aligned with the school of thought that had been championed in Wisconsin by Robert M. La Follette. Mensing was a Milwaukee-based member of the Socialist Party. Two State Issues In Election To Be Held Tomorrow; Wisconsin Will Decide on a Supreme Court Justice and Will Either Reject or Approve a Legislative Proposal to Issue Auto Licenses Through County Clerks https://www.newspapers.com/image/1101999362 Newspapers.com subscription The Merrill Star-Advocate April 13, 2026 1 April 7, 1931 Campaign Fowler argued that he was an experienced and capable jurist, it would be unwise for voters to oust him from the court. Reynolds promised that, if elected, he would shift the court's ideological lean in a liberal direction. Mensing centered his campaign on the balance of power in state government, arguing that the court had assumed too much power and had acted against the popular will of the people. Due to Reynolds having contested the previous judicial election a year earlier, as well as having won re-election as attorney general in November 1930 election, the 1931 judicial election was the third statewide race that Reynolds had run in a year's span. Results 1931 Wisconsin Supreme Court election http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1933 The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1933 1933 State of Wisconsin Witte Edwin E. Kelly Alice Madison, Wisconsin Parties and elections 505 December 27, 2019 | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General election (April 7, 1931) Nonpartisan politician Chester A. Fowler (incumbent) 254,534 46.87 +5.52% Nonpartisan politician John W. Reynolds Sr. 230,902 42.52 +4.14% Nonpartisan politician George L. Mensing 57,590 10.61 23,632 4.35 +1.38% 543,026 100.0 +13.08% References Category:Wisconsin Supreme Court elections supreme court Wisconsin