Liberals take control of Wisconsin Supreme Court after 15 years
In Wisconsin’s recent off-year election, the Democrats have achieved a significant victory by winning the state’s open supreme court seat and turning the court’s control to the liberals for the first time in 15 years. Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County Judge, won the hard-fought race against former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, setting a new national record for spending in a state supreme court election.
The victory of Protasiewicz holds immense importance for the court and the Democratic voters who supported her. With the likelihood of hearing a case challenging Wisconsin’s pre-Civil War abortion ban, and a liberal majority in the court, a lawsuit that could reverse Wisconsin’s Republican-drawn legislative maps is also expected to be considered.
This victory by Protasiewicz also means that the liberals will maintain a majority on the court before the upcoming presidential election in 2024, where Wisconsin is expected to play a vital role as a swing state. Protasiewicz’s presence on the bench will also give her a significant say in case of any election-related lawsuits.
At the victory speech, the audience at the Saint Kate hotel in downtown Milwaukee burst into celebration as Protasiewicz stepped on stage. The three liberal justices already on the court also joined her on stage towards the end of her speech.
Protasiewicz thanked her supporters and said that their victory signified a hopeful and bright future where the rights and freedoms of the people will be protected. She added that there is still work to be done, but this historic win has rekindled hope in many of them.
Democrats’ high hopes
Democrats are hopeful that if the court redraws the maps, it could potentially give them a better chance of winning the legislature races and steer the state’s political trajectory towards the left. Additionally, the court may also have the ability to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional map, where Republicans currently hold six out of eight U.S. House seats despite a 50-50 state division.
Janet Protasiewicz is a Milwaukee native who grew up on the city’s south side. She has served as a prosecutor in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office for 25 years and worked as a judge for most of the last decade. While she did not promise to rule one way or another on cases that come before the Supreme Court, she was vocal about her political views during her campaign. Protasiewicz supports a woman’s right to choose regarding abortion and criticized the Republican-drawn legislative maps in Wisconsin, calling them “rigged.” Liberals take control of Wisconsin Supreme Court after 15 years
Jenna Proudfit, a member of the audience, shouted to inform the room that the Wisconsin Supreme Court race had been called for Judge Janet Protasiewicz on April 4, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Image source: NPR
During her campaign, Judge Janet Protasiewicz received significant financial support from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, making her campaign the most heavily funded in history by the party. In fact, Protasiewicz has pledged to recuse herself from any cases involving the state party once she assumes office as a result of this support.
Kelly’s loss and the money
Following his defeat, Dan Kelly gave a concession speech to his supporters in Green Lake, Wisconsin, where he criticized Judge Janet Protasiewicz, his opponent, for what he saw as her derogatory comments about the judiciary during the campaign. Despite acknowledging the result of the election and the decision made by the people of Wisconsin, Kelly expressed concern about the implications of the election outcome. He remarked, “I respect the decision that the people of Wisconsin have made, but I think this does not end well.” Liberals take control of Wisconsin Supreme Court after 15 years
Despite downplaying his political views throughout the campaign, Dan Kelly brought a substantial Republican background to the race. He was initially appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by former Republican Governor Scott Walker in 2016, and his legal career was mostly spent as an attorney. In 2012, Kelly defended Wisconsin’s Republican-drawn legislative maps in a federal court case. After losing his first election in 2020, Kelly returned to private practice, where he represented both state and national Republican parties as clients.
Kelly’s major financial supporters included Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, as well as Fair Courts America, a group funded by Richard Uihlein, a prominent GOP donor. They invested over $10 million in attack ads criticizing Protasiewicz’s sentencing history as a judge in Milwaukee County.
However, despite Kelly’s and conservative groups’ heavy spending in the final weeks of the campaign, Protasiewicz managed to counter with an unprecedented fundraising haul of over $14 million, most of which came in transfers from the state Democratic Party.
The amount spent on the race shattered the previous national record for spending in a state Supreme Court race. The Brennan Center for Justice reported that the old record of $15.2 million was set in a 2004 Illinois Supreme Court race. The WisPolitics website recorded total spending on the Wisconsin race at $45 million, with political ads alone accounting for nearly $29 million.
Protasiewicz will assume her position on August 1 and serve until 2033. Unless something unforeseen occurs, conservatives will have to wait until 2025 for the next chance to regain control of the court.
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