Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Brett Blomme, who was charged Wednesday with seven counts of possession of child pornography, is a popular and influential figure among elected Democrats in Milwaukee. A very close ally of the city's longtime mayor, Tom Barrett, Blomme was supported and endorsed by nearly every major Democrat and left-wing group involved in Milwaukee politics when he ran for a seat on the court last year.
"I support Brett because, like me, he is committed to making Milwaukee a better place for all of us," said U.S. Congressman Gwen Moore when she endorsed Blomme's judicial run last winter. "Brett is the change we need to help fix our broken criminal justice system."
Blomme called this a "key endorsement" that helped propel him to a win over incumbent Paul Dedinsky. Blomme was seated on the bench in August and was serving in Children's Court at the time of his arrest.
Blomme also picked up endorsements from Milwaukee Common Council President Cavalier Johnson, who said Blomme "has dedicated his entire career to making Milwaukee a more inclusive place for all of us."
That career, sources indicate, was largely started and spurred along by Barrett. The two first met when Blomme was a Marquette University student, and Barrett has been a guiding influence on him for more than two decades, eventually installing him as chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals even though Blomme didn't live in Milwaukee.
"That was ridiculous," a source said. "You need intimate knowledge of local neighborhoods and [Blomme] lived in Dane County!"
So proud of Blomme was Barrett that in August 2019 he wrote a letter to members of Wisconsin's Judicial Selection Advisory Committee to "enthusiastically recommend Brett Blomme for appointment to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court."
"I believe Brett has the qualifications, integrity and values needed to be a successful member of our community’s judiciary," Barrett added.
This week, investigators executed search warrants at Blomme's homes in Cottage Grove and Milwaukee as well as in his courtroom and judicial chambers in the Milwaukee County Courthouse. He faces seven charges of possession of child pornography and decades of prison time if convicted. According to a criminal complaint, Blomme used the messaging app Kik to send 27 images and videos of suspected child pornography, including several that were uploaded from a government building.
"The allegations are alarming," Barrett said in a news release Wednesday. "The reports of the arrest came as a complete surprise."
During his run for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Blomme racked up endorsements from prominent liberal organizations and media outlets, including the Shepherd Express, which "enthusiastically" backed him because of his "values."
"The Shepherd Express enthusiastically endorses Brett Blomme for Circuit Court Judge," the paper's editorial board wrote. "We believe Mr. Blomme has the right set of values and he wants to contribute and to try to improve our justice system by running for Milwaukee county circuit court. Please support Brett Blomme for Judge Branch 5."
Louis Fortis, The Shepherd Express' editor, said only that "it's unfortunate."
Blomme also touted endorsements from major liberal political organizations and labor unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), Fair Wisconsin, and Voces De La Frontera.
"It's just disgusting," said one courthouse source. "This guy gets tons of support from these liberal groups and then less than a year later he's busted for child porn. He beat a good judge, too. Paul Dedinsky is a good man and a superb judge. But just because he happened to be appointed by Scott Walker, every liberal group and politician lines up behind this guy? It's ridiculous."
"I'm the progressive alternative," Blomme told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which ran a glowing profile of him when he announced his candidacy. "He's self-identified as a Walker guy, a Walker judge. My career has been working for the most marginalized in the community. I'll put my record up against his any day of the week."
"The Dan O'Donnell Show" reached out to many of these groups and leaders but has not yet heard back. Pictures from Blomme's Facebook page show him with major judicial figures such as Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky and political heavyweights like Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes and Congresswoman Moore.
Much of Blomme's institutional Democrat support stems from his close relationship with Barrett, which he parlayed into prominent roles in grassroots organizing and fundraising roles in Milwaukee's LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS communities and eventually as President and CEO of the Cream City Foundation, which, according to its website, "mobilizes philanthropic resources by harnessing the pride, passion, and commitment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies to advance the human rights and respond to the human needs of LGBTQ+ people in Southeastern Wisconsin."
Blomme, who is openly gay, adopted two young children with his husband. The family lives in Cottage Grove, and Blomme's residency became an issue during last year's campaign. Blomme said that the couple could not move to Milwaukee since his husband could not find a suitable job there. Eventually, Blomme and his husband bought a duplex in Milwaukee but kept their home in Cottage Grove.
Investigators were tipped off to Blomme's criminal activity by Kik, which Blomme used under the username "DomMasterBB" in an apparent reference to a sexual genre known as "bondage, dominance, sadism, and masochism" or BDSM. Law enforcement tell sources tell "The Dan O'Donnell Show" that the images Blomme uploaded are extremely disturbing.
"I felt like throwing up just reading the descriptions," said one source.