1925 Wisconsin elections#State Supreme Court

{{main|1925 United States Senate special election in Wisconsin}}

A special United States Senate election was held for Wisconsin's Class 1 United States Senate seat on September 29, 1925, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Republican senator Robert M. La Follette. Robert M. La Follette Jr. was elected to a full six-year term. La Follette defeated Independent (and fellow Republican) former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin Edward Dithmar. Three other candidates also appeared on the general election ballot: John M. Work (Socialist), William G. Bruce (Independent/Democratic), and George Bauman (Socialist Labor).

There were three other candidates in the Republican primary, former state senator from Eau Claire Roy P. Wilcox, Daniel C. Woodward, and former Governor of Wisconsin Francis E. McGovern.{{Election box begin|title=1925 U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin{{cite web|title=The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1927|url=https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1927/reference/wi.wibluebk1927.i0015.pdf|page=579|access-date=June 17, 2021}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|party=Republican Party (United States)|candidate=Robert La Follette Jr.|votes=237,719|percentage=67.51%|change={{decrease}}13.16}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent Republican (United States)|candidate=Edward F. Dithmar|votes=91,318|percentage=25.93%|change=N/A}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Socialist Party (United States)|candidate=John M. Work|votes=11,130|percentage=3.16%|change=N/A}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent Democratic|candidate=William G. Bruce|votes=10,743|percentage=3.05%|change={{decrease}}0.18}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Socialist Labor Party (United States)|candidate=George Bauman|votes=795|percentage=0.23%|change={{decrease}}0.12}}

{{Election box write-in with party link|votes=430|percentage=0.12%|change=}}

{{Election box total no change|votes=352,135|percentage=100.00%}}

{{Election box hold with party link no swing|winner=Republican Party (United States)|loser=}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1921 Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction election

| country = Wisconsin

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_election =

| previous_year = 1921

| next_election =

| next_year = 1929

| election_date = April 7, 1925

| image1 = John Callahan 1929 Blue Book (1).jpg

| candidate1 = John Callahan

| color1 = c0c0c0

| popular_vote1 = 342,691

| percentage1 = 99.88%

| map_image =

| map_caption =

| title = Justice

| before_election = John Callahan

| after_election = John Callahan

}}

A regularly-scheduled election for Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin was held on April 7, 1925. The incumbent superintendent John Callahan, first elected in 1921, was re-elected without opposition.{{cite web |date=March 16, 1925 |title=Callahan Files Papers; Will Be Unopposed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/518126437 |access-date=28 March 2025 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}{{cite news |date=May 6, 1925 |title=Statement of Board of State Canvassers Relating to Votes Cast for Justice of the Supreme Court and State Superintendent of Public Instruction |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-capital-times-election-results/166439897/ |access-date=February 22, 2025 |newspaper=The Capital Times |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}

{{Election box begin no change| title=1925 Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction election}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General election, April 7, 1925

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = John Callahan (incumbent)

|votes = 342,691

|percentage = 99.88

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party =

|candidate = Scattering

|votes = 403

|percentage = 0.12

}}

{{Election box plurality no change

|votes = 342,691

|percentage = 99.88

}}

{{Election box total no change

|votes = 343,094

|percentage = 100

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{clear}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1925 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

| country = Wisconsin

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_election =

| previous_year = 1924

| next_election =

| next_year = 1926

| election_date = April 7, 1925

| image1 = E. Ray Stevens circa 1929 (A24WTOUWVWE) 3x4.jpg

| candidate1 = E. Ray Stevens

| color1 = c0c0c0

| popular_vote1 = 256,431

| percentage1 = 65.81%

| image2 = John C. Kleist (266289788) (3x4).jpg

| candidate2 = John C. Kleist

| color2 = c0c0c0

| popular_vote2 = 133,164

| percentage2 = 34.17%

| map_image =

| map_caption =

| title = Justice

| before_election = Burr W. Jones

| after_election = E. Ray Stevens

| reporting =

| last_update =

| time_zone =

| previous_seat_election = 1922 Wisconsin Supreme Court special election

| previous_seat_year = 1922 (special)

| next_seat_election = 1935 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

| next_seat_year = 1935

}}

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.

A regularly-scheduled Wisconsin Supreme Court election was on the ballot for the general election 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).

File:Vote for Judge E. Ray Stevens Candidate for Supreme Court of Wisconsin (newspaper advertisement found in La Crosse Tribune April 2, 1925).jpg

Prior to both of their judicial careers, from 1896 to 1903, Jones and Stevens had been law partners in Madison, running the law firm Jones & Stevens.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbenchba02berr |title=History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin |publisher=H. C. Cooper, Jr. |year=1898 |editor-last=Berryman |editor-first=John R. |volume=2 |location=Chicago |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofbenchba02berr/page/362 362]-365 |access-date=January 28, 2020}} 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, the endorsement of Martin L. Lueck's (a priminent Democratic politician in the state) was also touted. 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."{{cite web |title=advertisement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/511005639 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press |access-date=29 March 2025 |page=12 |language=en |date=April 2, 1925}}

Kleist, then a lawyer who resided in Milwaukee,{{cite web |last1=Ostermeier |first1=Dr Eric |title=Wisconsin Supreme Court 2025 Election by the Numbers |url=https://smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2025/01/12/wisconsin-supreme-court-2025-election-by-the-numbers |website=Smart Politics (University of Minnesota) |access-date=5 July 2025 |date=13 January 2025}} had previously served for two-terms as the elected district attorney of Calumet County in the 1880s.{{cite web |date=July 31, 1931 |title=J.C. Kleist, Loyal Santa Cruzan, Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50566023 |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 March 2025 |publisher=Santa Cruz Evening News |language=en |via=Newspapers.com}} He had since his tenure as district attorney run for various judicial and political offices, losing each campaign.{{cite web |date=July 31, 1931 |title=John C. Kleist Dies In West |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/511237380 |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 March 2025 |publisher=The La Crosse Tribune at Newspapers.com |language=en |via=Newspapers.com |agency=The Associated Press}} He ran several times for seats on the Wisconsin circuit courts in Milwaukee County, but lost all of them. He first ran in 1910 for a seat on the Wisconsin Circuit Courts 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 Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1922, losing to Jones.{{cite web |date=April 2, 1922 |title=Record Ballot Forecasted In City Election |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/401371059 |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 March 2025 |publisher=Wisconsin State Journal |language=en |via=Newspapers.com}}

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. During his campaign, he was supported by the Anti-Saloon League, which promoted his candidacy in the Wisconsin edition of the The American Issue.{{cite web |date=April 9, 1925 |title=Anti-Saloon Publication Aided Kleist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/517758870 |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 March 2025 |publisher=The Capital Times |language=en |via=Newspapers.com}}

{{Election box begin no change| title=1925 Wisconsin Supreme Court election{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115028310/stevens-elected-justice/ |title= Judge Stevens Received Majority of 123,267 Votes |newspaper= Iron County Miner |date= May 8, 1925 |page= 1 |access-date= December 22, 2022 |via= Newspapers.com }}}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General election, April 7, 1925

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = E. Ray Stevens

|votes = 256,431

|percentage = 65.81

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = John C. Kleist

|votes = 133,164

|percentage = 34.17

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party =

|candidate = Scattering

|votes = 73

|percentage = 0.02

}}

{{Election box plurality no change

|votes = 123,267

|percentage = 31.63

}}

{{Election box total no change

|votes = 389,668

|percentage = 100

}}

{{Election box end}}

Several elections to the Wisconsin circuit courts were contested in 1925, including elections for judgeships on newly created branches of the court in Milwaukee County, Dane County, and Sauk County{{cite web |title=Setevens Elected Over Kleist to Supreme Court |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/272548301 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=Wasau Daily Record–Herald |access-date=28 March 2025 |language=en |date=April 8, 1925}}

Among the notable results in circuit court races was the election of Charles L. Aarons over Henry Cummings for branch number 8 in Milwaukee County.

Many local elections were also held coinciding with state elections.

Milwaukee voted on local propositions (defeating a proposal for a civic center; defeating a proposal to fund the streetcar services of The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company at-cost, approving a $1 million bond issue for improvements to public schools, and approving a $500,000 bond issue to construct a garbage disposal plant).

The city also elected three judges to its municipal court.

Manitowoc re-elected incumbent mayor Martin Georgenson (Socialist Labor Party) over challenger Frank E. Diebert.

Socialists also increased their representation on its city council by two seats.

{{reflist}}

{{1925 United States elections}}

{{Wisconsin Supreme Court elections}}

Wisconsin elections