MILWAUKEE (CN) — A liberal circuit court judge bested a conservative former justice in an election for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, ending the court’s conservative majority for the first time in more than a decade with a landslide victory.
Decision Desk HQ showed Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz winning the race with just over 55% of votes against former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly’s 44%, with about 1,729,000 votes cast as of around 11:00 p.m. Central Time.
The ostensibly nonpartisan contest between Protasiewicz and Kelly for a 10-year term on the Badger State’s highest court dominated local airwaves and broadly mobilized partisan outreach and fundraising. Donors, insiders and news outlets nationwide recognized the race as a defining democratic moment for the Upper Midwest battleground and, potentially, the country at large.
The candidates ran to replace retiring Justice Patience Roggensack, a conservative currently part of the 4-3 right-wing majority that has controlled the court for 15 years. In that time, the high court often ruled in favor of Republicans who seized the reins of the governorship and the statehouse in 2010 and still firmly control the latter.
The win for Protasiewicz — a liberal progressive who has voiced her belief in a woman’s right to abortions and condemned Wisconsin’s controversial voting maps as “rigged” — has rearranged the power dynamics of Wisconsin’s highest court and is likely to cause major ripple effects on policy and politics in the state. It’s also a huge win for state and national Democrats who bet big on the Milwaukee judge for a shot at generational change in the judiciary.
"Too many have tried to overturn the will of the people," Protasiewicz said in her victory speech. "Today's results show that Wisconsinites believe in democracy and the democratic process," she said, adding that she will bring common sense, fairness and impartiality to the court before shouting out and embracing with justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky, now her liberal colleagues.
Kelly's concession speech struck an embittered tone.
"I wish that in a circumstance like this I would be able to concede to a worthy opponent, but I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede," Kelly said. "This was the most deeply deceitful, dishonorable, despicable campaign I have ever seen run for the courts. It was truly beneath contempt," he continued, calling his opponent "a serial liar."
"I wish Wisconsin the best of luck, because I think it's going to need it," Kelly concluded.
Though the race was nonpartisan on paper, both political parties heavily invested in the election, including by writing checks. GOP committees helped raise more than $500,000 for Kelly, and Protasiewicz received more than $8 million in contributions from the state Democratic Party, according to the nonprofit Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
In recent years, the court’s majority has upheld lame-duck laws limiting the governor’s executive powers, banned absentee ballot drop boxes and allowed a GOP-appointed official to remain in his seat despite his term being expired, among other rulings on issues either spearheaded by or favorable to Republicans.
In December 2020, the conservative-majority court also came one vote away from fulfilling Donald Trump’s bid to overturn that year’s presidential election based on false claims of widespread voter fraud.
Protasiewicz will likely preside over Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul’s lawsuit to repeal the state’s 1849 statute largely banning abortions, which became the law of land when Roe v. Wade was overturned and made abortion a centerpiece issue in the election. She will also likely help determine the next round of redistricting, which comes on the heels of the court adopting voting maps drawn by Republicans many say blatantly favor their party, much as the 2011 maps did.
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