Wisconsin Supreme Court election

2023 - 4 - 4

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The 19th News"

Wisconsin Supreme Court election could decide abortion rights in ... (The 19th News)

Tuesday's race between liberal Janet Protasiewicz and conservative Dan Kelly will decide the makeup and partisan lean of a court poised to decide a ...

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election: Protasiewicz Wins With Abortion ... (The New York Times)

Janet Protasiewicz prevailed in the state's highly consequential contest for the Supreme Court, which will now be likely to reverse the state's abortion ban ...

Kaul’s case for May 4, but whichever way a county judge rules, the case is all but certain to advance on appeal to the State Supreme Court later this year. Evers, said he would file a legal request for the Supreme Court to hear a redistricting case the day after Judge Protasiewicz is seated. “Trying to address the gerrymander and reverse the extreme partisan gerrymandering we have is the highest priority.” Last year, the court’s conservatives [allowed a Walker appointee whose term](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/06/29/wisconsin-supreme-court-allows-frederick-prehn-remain-dnr-board/7745477001/) had expired to remain in office over Mr. In 2020, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court was the only one in the country to agree to hear President Donald J. Mandell, the president of Law Forward, a progressive law firm that has represented Mr. The result means that in the next year, the court is likely to reverse the state’s abortion ban and end the use of gerrymandered legislative maps drawn by Republicans. That key vote gave this year’s court race extra importance, because the justices will weigh in on voting and election issues surrounding the 2024 election. Justice Kelly, 59, evinced the bitterness of the campaign with a testy concession speech that acknowledged his defeat and portended doom for the state. She made explicit her support for abortion rights and called the maps, which gave Republicans near-supermajority control of the Legislature, “rigged” and “unfair.” Scott Walker’s early overhauls to state government, including the Act 10 law that gutted public employee unions, as well as voting restrictions like a requirement for a state-issued identification and a ban on ballot drop boxes. As the race was called Tuesday night, the court’s three sitting liberal justices embraced at Judge Protasiewicz’s election night party in Milwaukee, as onlookers cried tears of joy.

For the first time in 15 years, liberals win control of the Wisconsin ... (NPR)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court could soon vote to legalize abortion and end gerrymandering now that Janet Protasiewicz, backed by Democrats, has defeated ...

The race shattered the previous national record for spending in a state Supreme Court race. [ downplayed his political views](https://www.wpr.org/dan-kelly-wisconsin-supreme-court-politics-republican-conservative-campaign-issues), but he brought [ a long Republican resume](https://www.wpr.org/dan-kelly-wisconsin-supreme-court-politics-republican-conservative-campaign-issues) to the race. Barring the unexpected, the next chance conservatives have to flip the court back will be in 2025. Another running [tally](https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/wispolitics-review-spending-in-supreme-court-race-nears-45-million) by the Wisconsin political news site WisPolitics found total spending on the race had hit $45 million. The bulk of that money came in transfers from the state Democratic Party. Spending in the campaign shattered the previous national record for a state supreme court election. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the old record of $15.2 million was set in a 2004 race for the Illinois Supreme Court. [ open about her politics](https://www.wpr.org/janet-protasiewicz-wisconsin-supreme-court-abortion-politics-democratic-campaign-issues) during the campaign. In 2020, after Kelly [ lost his first election](https://www.wpr.org/jill-karofsky-wins-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-defeating-conservative-incumbent), he returned to private practice, where his clients included both the state and national Republican parties. If election lawsuits are filed in state court, Protasiewicz will be one of the seven justices who have the final say. The court could also potentially redraw Wisconsin's congressional map, where Republicans currently hold six out of eight U.S House seats in an otherwise 50-50 state. "And while there is still work to be done, tonight we celebrate this historic victory that has obviously reignited hope in so many of us.

Liberal judge wins Wisconsin supreme court election, flipping ... (The Guardian)

Abortion rights, redistricting and election rules were at stake in decision affecting key swing state.

A [challenge](https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-abortion-ban-lawsuit-josh-kaul) to the ban is currently making its way through state courts and will likely end up in front of the state supreme court this year. “She’s one of those people who’s Wisconsin to the bone,” Sonya Bice, 57, a lawyer in Madison, said about Protasiewicz. Following the 2020 elections, Kelly was hired by the Wisconsin GOP to [advise](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/daniel-kelly-wisconsin-supreme-court-trump-fake-electors-rcna71276) on a plan to have a group of Republicans falsely claim to be electors. Abortion quickly emerged as a top issue in this race, with voters across the state [rejected](https://apnews.com/article/wisonsin-supreme-court-trump-lawsuit-e6b3aa222b4141c0844d541c4b041964) an attempt by former president Donald Trump to overturn the results of the presidential election; the court could see a similar challenge in 2024. Elections and democracy observers have called this election the most consequential one of the year, with abortion rights, redistricting and election rules at stake.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election: Liberals win majority after 15 ... (NBC News)

The victory of Janet Protasiewicz over conservative Dan Kelly will allow the court's new liberal majority to determine the future of key issues like ...

As is the case in many states, in Wisconsin, if the governor and the Legislature cannot agree on legislative maps, the issue falls to the state Supreme Court. [television](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NccB5rwJsZs) advertisements emphasized her support for abortion rights and slammed “ [extremists](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sOnGvAyTno)” on the other side. [tweeted](https://mobile.twitter.com/benwikler/status/1643423451288403968) that the race was "a release valve for twelve years of Democratic rage in Wisconsin about Republicans rigging our state and smashing our democracy." [a 4-3 decision last year,](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/wisconsin-supreme-court-bars-absentee-ballot-drop-boxes-elections-offi-rcna37275) the state Supreme Court deemed all ballot drop boxes outside of election clerks’ offices illegal — a setback for Democrats, who had advocated to preserve one of the more lenient rules about the boxes that arose during the coronavirus pandemic. In a deposition to the House committee investigating the Jan. State Democrats and abortion rights groups lauded her win in the moments after NBC News called the race for her. It could also hear cases about redrawn legislative maps (the current map, which The win by Protasiewicz suggests that the strategy continues to pay off for the party — a data point national Democrats will be all but certain to rely on heading into next year’s presidential election. She was endorsed by the Democratic abortion rights group history and one of the most closely watched elections of 2023. Protasiewicz was elected to a 10-year term. Protasiewicz will fill the seat being vacated by retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack, giving liberals the majority for the first time since 2008.

Liberal wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat as fate of state abortion ... (Globalnews.ca)

Janet Protasiewicz defeated conservative candidate Daniel Kelly in what legal experts have called the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history.

Protasiewicz ran as a critic of the current maps, calling them “rigged.” He tried to make the campaign about Protasiewicz’s record as a judge, arguing that she was soft on crime and accusing her of being “bought and paid for” by Democrats. Kelly refused to promise to step down from any case brought by his supporters, which include the state chamber of commerce. Kelly was appointed to the state Supreme Court by then-Gov. Kelly is a former justice who has also performed work for Republicans and advised them on a plan to have fake GOP electors cast their ballots for Trump following the 2020 election even though Trump had lost. The court will now be controlled by Democratic-backed justices for at least the next two years, including the run-up and aftermath of the 2024 presidential election.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election 2023: Live Results (The New York Times)

See full results and maps from the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

0 50 Percent of votes in