Kitty Brennan

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Honorable

| name = Kitty K. Brennan

| image name =

| caption =

|office = Judge of the {{nowrap|Wisconsin Court of Appeals}} {{nowrap|District I}}

| term_start = August 21, 2008

| term_end = September 4, 2019

| appointer = Jim Doyle

| predecessor = Ted E. Wedemeyer Jr.

| successor = Joe Donald

|office1 = {{nowrap|Chief Judge}} of the 1st District of {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Courts}}

| term_start1 = August 1, 2005

| term_end1 = August 21, 2008

| predecessor1 = Michael P. Sullivan

| successor1 = Jeffrey Kremers

|office2 = {{nowrap|Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge}} {{nowrap|for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 6}}

| term_start2 = August 1, 1994

| term_end2 = August 21, 2008

| predecessor2 = George W. Greene Jr.

| successor2 = Ellen R. Brostrom

|birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|5|17}}

| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party =

| spouse = Joseph G. Murphy

| children = {{unbulleted list

| Daniel George Murphy

| Kathleen Brennan Murphy

| 2 others

}}

| father =

| mother =

| religion =

| education = {{unbulleted list

| University of Wisconsin–Madison {{small|(B.S.)}}

| University of Wisconsin Law School {{small|(J.D.)}}

}}

Kitty K. Brennan (born May 17, 1950) is an American lawyer and retired judge. She served on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals from 2008 to 2019 in the Milwaukee-based District I. Earlier in her career, she served 14 years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge and worked as an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County.

Biography

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brennan received her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her J.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. She began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in the office of the Milwaukee County District Attorney. In 1984, she left the office to enter private practice with the firm Murphy & Brennan.{{cite web|url= https://wicourts.gov/courts/appeals/judges/retired/brennan.htm |title= Judge Kitty K. Brennan |website= Wisconsin Court System |accessdate= April 5, 2020}}

Brennan was elected to the Wisconsin Circuit Court in 1994, defeating George W. Greene in the spring election that year. Greene had been appointed to the role seven months before the election to replace Judge Robert W. Landry, who had retired. She was re-elected to the circuit court in 2000 and 2006. In 2005, she was appointed Chief Judge of the 1st Judicial Administrative District by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She was re-appointed to a second two-year term as Chief Judge in 2007, but in 2008, Governor Jim Doyle appointed her to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals following the death of Judge Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr.{{cite news|url= https://wislawjournal.com/2008/11/17/kremers-predicts-vacancies-won8217t-be-filled-quickly/| title= Kremers predicts vacancies won't be filled quickly |date= November 17, 2018 |newspaper= Wisconsin Law Journal |accessdate= April 5, 2020}} She was re-elected to the Court of Appeals without opposition in 2009 and 2015. She served as Presiding Judge for District I from 2016 to 2018.

Judge Brennan was named "Judge of the Year" in 2006 by the State Bar of Wisconsin.{{cite web|url= https://www.wisbar.org/aboutus/awardsandrecognition/Pages/default.aspx |title= Awards and Recognition |website= State Bar of Wisconsin |accessdate= April 5, 2020}} She retired in 2019 and was succeeded by Judge Joe Donald.

Personal life and family

Judge Brennan is married to Joseph G. Murphy, and they have four children.

Electoral history

=Wisconsin Circuit Court (1994, 2000, 2006)=

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Circuit Court, Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 6 Election, 1994{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1970 |title= State of Wisconsin 1995-1996 Blue Book |editor1-last= Barish |editor1-first= Lawrence S. |year= 1995 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |location= Madison, Wisconsin |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |accessdate= April 5, 2020 |page= 880}}}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 5, 1994

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Kitty K. Brennan

|votes = 46,176

|percentage = 60.43%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = George W. Greene (incumbent)

|votes = 30,231

|percentage = 39.57%

|change =

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 76,407

|percentage = 100.0%

|change =

}}

=Wisconsin Court of Appeals (2009, 2015)=

{{Election box begin | title=Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District I Election, 2015{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk2015 |title= State of Wisconsin 2015-2016 Blue Book |editor1-last= Pohlman |editor1-first= Julie |year= 2015 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |location= Madison, Wisconsin |chapter= Elections in Wisconsin |accessdate= April 5, 2020 |page= 881}}}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 7, 2015

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Kitty K. Brennan

|votes = 52,442

|percentage = 98.83%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party =

|candidate = Scattering

|votes = 620