Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 70. Sunrise is 5:32 and sunset is 8:29, for 14 hours, 58 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 55.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.
On this day in 1821, the United States takes possession of Florida after the Kingdom of Spain cedes the territory.
Wisconsin will hold her next state supreme court election in April 2026. Incumbent Justice Rebecca Bradley has declared her intention to run, but has not formally entered the race. Although she has several career choices before her, a federal judicial appointment is not (by her choice) one of them:
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin have sent to President Donald Trump this week five recommendations for filling a vacant seat on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Trump administration is signaling that it is going its own way in selecting the nominee.
Sources told the Journal Sentinel that Trump officials interviewed a handful of conservative Wisconsin candidates on their own. The interviews occurred before Johnson and Baldwin’s judicial nominating commission, which normally selects candidates for federal judgeships and other positions and forwards them to the White House for consideration, completed its review and submitted candidates’ names.
At least five of the 19 applicants for the position traveled to Washington, D.C., to sit for interviews with White House staff in mid-May, according to multiple sources familiar with the process.
….
Several prominent Wisconsin judges who were expected to vie for the seat didn’t end up applying. Those included state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow and U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig, a Trump appointee.
All three have strong conservative credentials, but multiple sources told the Journal Sentinel that the president wanted to nominate someone who is expected to be on the appellate court for decades. Bradley, Dorow and Ludwig are all 54 years old or older.
See Daniel Bice and Lawrence Andrea, Trump administration signals it is bypassing Wisconsin’s senators in key judicial selection, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17, 2025.
Her decision not to seek the federal appointment now leaves Bradley with these options:
Bradley (1) might receive an appointment to the federal bench, (2) might come across a lucrative private sector offer, (3) would have a tough go of reelection, and (4) would sit in the minority on Wisconsin’s high court for at least two more years even if she won re-election in 2026.
See also Updates on the Careers of Gableman and Bradley (4.8.25), Chris Taylor Enters Wisconsin Supreme Court Race (5.24.25), and Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley’s Career Prospects (7.15.25).
‘Good Trouble’ protests honor John Lewis and challenge Trump policies:
See also Good Trouble Lives On.