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Amidst the ongoing labor struggle in Wisconsin and national efforts to cut programs while giving breaks to business, the race for a swing vote seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has heated up.

Justice David Prosser, who is up for reelection, has been the subject of TV ads attempting to tie his views and judicial decisions to controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Prosser has rejected these claims and stated that a statement earlier this year by his campaign staff that he should be re-elected to "complement" Walker's efforts was not approved by him in advance.

At the March 21 debate at Marquette Law School between the two candidates -- Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg -- in the non-partisan race for the highest court in the state, Prosser faced questions about his temperament and the lack of judicial collegiality on the Court. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) endorsed Prosser during the primary while noting that in "an interview with the Editorial Board [in February], he was surprisingly blunt in his criticisms of the chief [Justice Shirley Abrahamson], blaming her for the backbiting and divisiveness of the court."

WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT DEBATE BETWEEN INCUMBENT DAVID PROSSER AND CHALLENGER JOANNE KLOPPENBURG

10:00 p.m. - Brendan Fischer reports:

With recently-released emails suggesting Prosser has contributed to discord on the state's highest court, Prosser recommended that greater civility could be achieved with "outside studies," and Kloppenburg questioned whether animosity between justices could cloud the decisionmaking process. She asked, "are judges making decisions based on law, or based on personal animosity?" Throughout the debate, Prosser circled back to ads being run against him by the group Greater Milwaukee Committee pointing out he did not prosecute a pedophiliac priest when Prosser was a District Attorney. "This is the worst ad ever run in a judicial campaign," he said. Both sides brought up ads run against former Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler by current Justice Michael Gableman that made the ludicrous suggestion Butler found a "loophole" to free a rapist so he could rape again (Butler was appointed the case as a public defender, got a new trial but lost at the Supreme Court, and the man served his entire sentence). While Prosser joined the half of the court that refused to censure Gableman for the ad, Prosser subtly compared it to the "pedophiliac priest" ad to turn the tables. Kloppenburg pointed out that the ads against Prosser were run by a third-party group, whereas the Gableman ads were produced by his own campaign. Nonetheless, Kloppenburg declined to ask the Greater Milwaukee Committee to take down their ads when challenged to do so by Prosser. The debate flowed into a discussion of campaign disclosure rules, an issue especially relevant in light of challenges to the state elections board expanding disclosure regulations. A case on this matter is currently pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Center for Media and Democracy has submitted an amicus brief in favor of increased disclosure. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court favored disclosure in its Citizens United decision, right-leaning groups making expenditures in the 2010 midterm elections benefitted from secrecy, suggesting that disclosure considerations would be a right-left issue. However, when asked about disclosure, Prosser suggested he would favor it, stating "I want to know who is smearing me in that third-party ad!"

Protesters flooded The Homer Building in Washington, D.C., where BGR Group, an enormous and infamously right-wing lobbyist group has its offices.

BGR hosted a $1,000-a-head fundraiser Wednesday for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Special guests included Wisconsin Republican senators, notably Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald -- the "Fitz" of "FitzWalkerstan," as legislators and protesters in Madison have dubbed Fitzgerald and Governor Scott Walker's now-Republican "state."

Other guests slated to attend: Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, and two senators eligible for recall, Alberta Darling and Glenn Grothmann.

"Where did our money go? Down the Walker rat hole!"

Such was the popular chant Tuesday evening outside the downtown Madison Marshall and Ilsley Bank branch. Protesters rallied outside the small bank front on the Capitol Square.

M&I Bank, founded and based in Milwaukee, and its executives were top contributors to Governor Scott Walker's campaign fund in 2010. After Walker passed the controversial "budget repair" bill, eliminating collective bargaining rights for many Wisconsin public workers, M&I Bank found itself smack-dab at the top of two boycott lists.

"Who funds Walker? M&I Bank!"

The crowd of about 100 people gained steam as the protesting continued. At one point, a burly bald man with "M&I Security" emblazoned on his suit came out and told protester Miles Kristan he could not sit against the door of the bank because "it is private property."