American Majority-Trained Joe Voiland Knocks Off Recall Signing Judge

In 2011 and 2012, Wisconsin had two rounds of recall elections, first for state senators over collective bargaining reforms and fleeing the state, and then for Gov. Walker along with more state senators.  While the recall elections are over (for now), the impact of the Left’s overreach is still being felt.  29 judges signed recall petitions and immediately felt the heat for doing so.  Joe Voiland was inspired to run for judge when he saw that his circuit court judge has signed a recall petition.  On Tuesday, Joe resoundingly won his election for Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge 63%-37%, joining 8 other American Majority trained candidates who won.

It took courage for Joe to take on an 18 year incumbent, who had support from the good old boys at the county courthouse.  Incumbent judges rarely lose and Judge Wolfgram had never had a challenger in his judicial career.  But Joe knew someone had to stand up for the Separation of Powers, which is central to our Republic.  When Judge Wolfgram signed a recall petition, he crossed the line into politics.

When Joe announced he was running, he initially didn’t have a ton of support.  He attended an American Majority candidate training in Grafton on January 15 and learned some ideas on how to run his campaign.  Joe says “the biggest thing I learned from American Majority’s training was the importance of having an organized ground game. It’s not just putting your name out there, you have to work hard to win elections.” Joe did work hard and his campaign gained momentum.  Conservative talk radio played a large role as hosts like Charlie Sykes explained the importance of the judicial race.

As more and more voters heard Joe’s story, they rallied behind his campaign.  Joe is a Navy veteran, having served as a Lieutenant aboard the USS Nimitz during Operation Southern Watch (Iraq). He also served as a public service special prosecutor, counsel to the State of Wisconsin in litigation regarding redistricting, counsel to Justice Prosser during the recount of the 2011 WI Supreme Court election, and law clerk at the Wisconsin Supreme Court to Justice Diane S. Sykes, now judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  His wealth of courtroom experience, handling complex litigation, demonstrated his qualification for being a judge.

Joe Voiland didn’t just eek out a small win. He dominated. Judge Wolfgram only managed to win 5 wards in the whole county. Hopefully his story inspires others that they too can challenge the good old boys and win.