On April 2, Door County voters will see two options for Circuit Court judge on their ballots. Judge Todd Ehlers is retiring, vacating the Branch I seat on the bench.
Attorney Brett Reetz and Door County Family Court Commissioner Jennifer Moeller are both vying for the vacant seat. Judicial terms last six years.
Past blog posts written by Reetz have come to light during the campaign, due to a website created by Sturgeon Bay resident Zachary Lozoff. The posts come from two blogs that Reetz published between 2009 and 2023, both of which he has since deleted.
In Lozoff’s site, he quotes and links to archived versions of some of the posts using the Wayback Machine, an archive of the internet created by the Internet Archive, a San Francisco nonprofit.
Reetz’s past writings have elicited more than 100 comments on social media, which drew the attention of Knock.
Most of the blog posts are political commentary. Some contain opinions – both in Reetz’s own words and in some cases those of other writers he quotes or republishes – about groups of people, including gay men, immigrants, Muslims, those who support abortion rights and liberals.
In interviews this week, Reetz said he regrets his word choices in some of the posts but generally stands by his principles. He said he deleted one of the blogs four years ago and deleted the other before running for judge because he didn’t want the campaign to become a political debate.
“Principle-wise I don’t disagree with anything I’ve written,” Reetz said. “I take responsibility for some of the phrasing. It was 14 years ago. I’ve evolved a bit.”
In reporting this story, Knock interviewed Reetz twice by phone: once on Monday, March 25, and once on Saturday, March 30. Following the first interview, a reporter read through more of Reetz’s blogs and followed up with him Friday morning to get his specific comment on more of his past writings.
There are 56 circuit court races in Wisconsin this election cycle, and only 10 of them are contested, Wisconsin Watch reported this week. The Door County judicial election is one of them. The race is historic for other reasons as well; it is the first time in 24 years there has been a contested judicial race in Door County, and Moeller is the first woman to run for the position.
As one of two circuit court judges in the county, the winner of the election will preside over both civil and criminal cases. A majority of these cases do not go to jury trial, which means the judge has the final say on sentencing and outcome, according to the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. Family law, civil rights, disability rights, labor rights, voting rights and public safety are all possibly affected by circuit court judges’ rulings. (Disclosure: Knock partners with the League of Women Voters of Door County to host issues-based community forums.)
Lozoff said the importance of the race is one of his motivations for publicizing Reetz’s blogs. Lozoff is not working with Moeller’s campaign or anyone else, he said. He did not know Reetz personally before the election, he said, and his motivation for publishing the blogs was solely in the interest of informing voters.
“You can’t scrub 15 years and hundreds of thousands of words. You’re denying people the right to know you,” Lozoff said.
“I’m not questioning his beliefs,” he added. “I’m questioning whether his beliefs will make him a good judge. … I just want people to have knowledge.”
Gay men
Reetz referred to gay men as “sodomizers” in an April 2009 post criticizing the views of liberals.
“How rude to not let two sodomizers have the same rights as a man and women,” he wrote. “Of course we should create a protected class based upon how a person uses his or her genitals.”
Reetz said this week that he would have phrased that differently.
“I regret the use of that word,” Reetz said. He added that he was trying to make a point: “I don’t think people should divide themselves by sexual preference. I would’ve been more academic.”
He also referenced gay men in an October 2009 post in which he criticized what he referred to as “American principles de jour.”
“We’ll take a family of five with two parents and three kids,” Reetz wrote. “The parents have different genders. Uh oh, not necessarily true given the principles de jour. So let’s start over. A family of five, two dads and three kids. I’m sure the kids won’t mind having two dads and no mom, no problem.”
Reetz said this week that he supports gay marriage being legal.
“I was being flippant,” he said. “There are always exceptions. I absolutely support legal status (of gay marriage). That should not be messed with.”
Abortion
Reetz criticized people who support abortion rights in a December 2010 post titled “On Abortion. Here’s My View. How Does Satan’s Crank Taste?”
“A person who says they are pro-choice is a intellectual retard,” Reetz wrote. “No doubt about it.”
Reetz said this week he would not have used the phrase “intellectual retard” if he were writing the post now.
Islam
In an August 2010 post titled “Should We Be Concerned With Islam?,” Reetz quoted extensively from what he cited as an essay by missionary and author Dr. Peter Hammond, adapted from Hammond’s book “Slavery, Terrorism and Islam.”
Portions of the essay, including the following quote, are also part of a viral forwarded email titled “Can Muslims be Good Americans?” that began circulating in 2006.
The essay by Hammond argues that as the Muslim population grows in “politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies,” so does violence and persecution of non-Muslims. Hammond concludes: “Perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country. They obviously cannot be both ‘good’ Muslims and good Americans.”
At the end of the republished essay, Reetz added a footnote.
“Still, I am in no way condemning all Muslim followers,” Reetz wrote. “I am just suggesting that we should, based upon the information available to us, be a little more suspect of Islam’s intentions. It is contrary to our fundamental principles and this is a problem that we should be openly dealing with at this time. We need to corner the Islamists and ask them a base question: How do they propose to reconcile their beliefs that are contradictory to our principles with our principles?”
Reetz said he stands by what he wrote at the end of the post. He added: “I would ask Muslims, how do you reconcile your beliefs with freedom and liberty? Words matter, I believe they do. It is something we need to talk about.”
Immigration
In a December 2010 post titled “Will Massive Immigration Destroy America? Well Maybe Only Our American Ways,” Reetz republished another writer, prefacing the work.
“So why should we let strangers enter our country if they don’t come here wanting to be part of us?” Reetz wrote. “I don’t know. I do know this; the following article supports the blatant truth that we shouldn’t. Written in 1994, it is still so on point. Lawrence Auster wrote it. Thanks Lawrence for some great insight and analysis.”
Lawrence Auster was an American essayist who called himself a “racialist” and wrote: “which to me means two things. … I think that race matters in all kinds of ways. Second, I care about the white race.”
The article by Auster, republished by Reetz, describes positive values that Auster says only flourish in “white-majoity societies.” Auster argues that once white people are no longer a majority, “American civilization with all its constituent virtues will also come to an end.”
Asked this week whether he agreed with the position he republished in his blog, Reetz replied, “I absolutely do not agree with that. I should’ve read it more thoroughly and drawn a distinction there. Take the white out, the aspect of race out.”
“I’m color blind when it comes to people. I didn’t know that about him (Auster). Any implication that I’m racist, I argue with,” Reetz said in response to Auster’s position as a “racialist.”
“Not only can I say I’m not racist, but my actions speak louder than words,” he said, referring to his work on the board of Brothers Helping Brothers in Green Bay. Brothers Helping Brothers is a mental health support group that began in 2023, comprised mostly of Black men, according to its Facebook page.
Government
Lozoff took issue on his site with Reez calling government “cancer” in an April 2023 post.
Reetz this week said he remains suspicious of government, Big Pharma, and the military-industrial complex.
“Don’t you want someone who is suspicious of these things, especially the government?” Reetz asked this week. “The majority of what happens in the courtroom is government going after people. Every person who walks into the courtroom is innocent until proven guilty.”
Liberals
Reetz also criticized liberals in an April 2009 post titled “Liberals Are A Bunch Of Unamerican Limps (Liberal + Wimp)!”
“I find limps pathetic and I have no empathy for them,” he wrote.
The position of Circuit Court judge is nonpartisan—not political party-based—similar to county and municipal elections. Reetz said he has never asked nor cared about any of his clients’ political positions or used his political opinions in the courtroom.
“I do have empathy for liberals,” Reetz said this week. “I said a lot of other things too in those old blogs. I have empathy for everybody. I would’ve used different words.”
Moving forward
Reetz has responded to comments extensively on social media and publicized his personal cell phone number as well, encouraging his critics to contact him and discuss the blogs or any other issue, he said.
“No one is pulling out the good parts,” he said of his detractors. “They don’t like my politics and don’t want me to be a judge because of them.”
“I wish none of it had come out because none of it is going to affect how I’m going to be a judge,” he added. “The Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence will be my foundation.”
Reetz and Lozoff met in person this week and discussed the blogs and the judicial race. According to both men it was a civil and courteous discussion.
Lozoff denied that publicizing Reetz’s blogs on social media is a character assassination.
“I’m putting the info out there for people to make their own decisions,” he said. “That’s how a democracy works.”
When asked how he would be able to separate any bias he has from how he would perform as a judge, Reetz said, “My whole career shows how. Never once in 32 years has it come up in the courtroom.”
“I do have regrets about the way I worded things,” Reetz said. “Who doesn’t? Especially when you’re as vocal as I am. But my principles are sound.”