A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice said he won't participate in a case determining if public sector workers regain bargaining rights.

Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn's recusal puts the focus on whether liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz will also step away from the Act 10 case.

Now the issue has come up in the race for the state's highest court, which has no say over how Wisconsin manages DNA testing.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court general election set to be held in April will determine ideological control of the court.

Both campaigns are trying to use the issue to define Brad Schimel, the former Republican attorney general and a current Waukesha County judge.

A conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice will not participate in a pending case that will determine whether tens of thousands of public sector workers regain collective bargaining rights that were taken away by a 2011 law.

Hagedorn's recusal marks a major blow to Republicans' hopes of a favorable ruling in their quest to uphold the 2011 law that gutted public sector collective bargaining in Wisconsin