1855 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

April 3, 1855


Candidate	Orsamus Cole	Samuel Crawford
Popular vote	32,881	25,733
Percentage	55.95%	43.79%

Justice before election

Samuel Crawford

Elected Justice

Orsamus Cole

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The 1855 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 3, 1855, to elect a justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a full term. Orsamus Cole unseated incumbent justice Samuel Crawford.

Crawford likely lost due to his opinion in Booth v. Ableman (later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in Ableman v. Booth) that the Fugitive Slave Laws were unconstitutional.^[1] He was the first Wisconsin Supreme Court justice to lose re-election. As of 2025, this has only occurred in seven subsequent instances (1908, 1917, 1947, 1958, 1967, 2008, 2020). ^[2]

Results

^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
General Election, April 3, 1855
	Nonpartisan	Orsamus Cole	32,881	55.95
	Nonpartisan	Samuel Crawford (incumbent)	25,733	43.79
	Nonpartisan	James H. Knowlton (Write-in)	64	0.11
		Scattering	90	0.15
Plurality			7,148	12.16
Total votes			58,768	100

References

^ "Samuel Crawford (1820-1860) - Former Justices". Wisconsin Court System. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
^
Multiple sources:
- Ostermeier, Eric (April 11, 2011). "The Incumbency Advantage in Wisconsin Supreme Court Elections". Smart Politics. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
- Johnson, Shawn (April 14, 2020). "Jill Karofsky Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Defeating Conservative Incumbent". WPR. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
^ "Associate Justice of the Supreme Court - Official". Daily Free Democrat. May 26, 1855. p. 2. Retrieved June 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

(1854 ←) 1855 United States elections (→ 1856)
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Wisconsin Supreme Court elections
Seat currently held by Janet Protasiewicz	1852 1859 1865 1868 sp. 1871 1877 1883 1893 1898 sp. 1903 1913 1923 1933 1943 1953 1963 1973 1983 1993 2003 2013 2023 2033
Seat currently held by Ann Walsh Bradley (Justice-elect: Susan M. Crawford)	1852 1861 1867 1873 1879 1881 sp. 1889 1899 1908 sp. 1909 1918 sp. 1919 1929 1939 1949 1958 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015 2025 2035
Seat currently held by Rebecca Dallet	1852 CJ 1860 CJ sp. 1863 CJ 1868 CJ sp. 1869 CJ 1875 CJ 1881 CJ 1891 1899 sp. 1901 1911 1921 1930 sp. 1931 1941 1950 sp. 1951 1961 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008 2018 2028
Seat currently held by Annette Ziegler	1877 1887 1896 sp. 1897 1907 1917 1927 1937 1947 1957 1967 1977 1987 1997 2007 2017 2027
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Seat currently held by Jill Karofsky	1906 1916 1926 1936 1946 1956 1966 1968 1978 1984 1994 2001 2011 2020 2030