MADISON -- Next year's Wisconsin Supreme Court re-election ballot for controversial liberal Justice Louis B. Butler flushed out plenty of conservative hopefuls.

But Burnett County Circuit Court Judge Michael Gableman was the last GOP man standing at yesterday's filing deadline for the April 1 election, which could tip the Supreme Court firmly to the right.

Gableman is now Wisconsin conservatives' only hope of unseating 55-year-old Butler, a liberal justice appointed by a Democratic governor in 2004 as the court's first African-American judge. His re-election campaign was recently endorsed by the Milwaukee Police Association and the Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters.

Fellow Wisconsin conservative Charlie Schutze, who runs his own law practice in Sun Prairie, dropped out of the running last week citing health concerns. He joined the GOP race to unseat Butler last September shortly before another conservative, Paul Bucher, withdrew after expressing interest in taking on Butler, LNL reported.

The race is expected to be a big-spending political smackdown following last year's $6 million affair between conservative victor Annette Ziegler and liberal Linda Clifford. At stake for liberals is a reliable third vote on a court considered split 3-3 with one swing vote.

A victory for Gableman would tilt the Wisconsin Supreme Court 4-2-1 in favor of conservatives, but a loss for Butler looks unlikely. He now has almost four years experience on the state's top bench and no incumbents have been defeated in a Wisconsin Supreme Court vote in more than 40 years.