Well, after almost 20 years of writing a weekly column, it was bound to happen. I made a fatal factual error.

In my column for the Washington County Daily News this week, the main thrust is that there are two conservative candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and that conservatives should refrain from attacking either candidate. The election is very important and I’m worried about a repeat of the governor’s race where the conservatives tear each other apart while the liberals slide into the general election unscathed. That point remains valid.

Unfortunately, I misread how the nonpartisan primary process works. I stated that voters will be able to choose the top two candidates to proceed to the general election. I thought this was the case from memory and when I was writing the piece, I referred back to some primary results and saw nonpartisan results where voters chose the top two candidates. However, voters only choose the top two candidates when there are two open seats available like for city council or school board. Voters get as many votes as there are offices to be elected. In the case of the Supreme Court race, there is only one office, so voters will have to select only one candidate. I’ve notified my editor of my error and expect a correction soon.

I apologize for my error and for any confusion it may cause. My main point and concern remains. Conservatives must not fall into the trap of destroying our own candidates while the liberals laugh. Conservatives will have to choose between Dorow and Kelly in February, but let’s keep it above the belt.