Early Vote starts TODAY in the April 4 Wisconsin Supreme Court race. This could be CLOSE—and losing can be disastrous.
In 2011, we missed by 7,004 votes, and in 2019 by just 5,981 votes. We can’t afford to repeat history. Chip in to help us flip the court.
To get a sense of one possible consequence if Dan Kelly wins the Wisconsin state Supreme Court race this April 4—just two weeks from today—check out this post.
But, as recent history brutally demonstrates, the danger goes way beyond just 2024.
In 2011, after a recount, the final tally gave the incumbent conservative Justice Prosser the edge by 7,004 votes—a margin of 0.4%. The official winner was declared. And the GOP majority on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court was sealed.
Republicans have held the state Supreme Court majority ever since. Terms last ten years. The winner of the 2023 Supreme Court election will be in office through 2033—three presidential elections.
As painful as the memory of 2011 might be, 2019 was even tougher.
Because, if we’d won that year, then our 2020 victory would’ve given us a majority on the state Supreme Court.
Instead, we lost by an even smaller margin than in 2011: just 5,981 votes.
In the final stretch before Election Day in 2019, Republicans’ own internal polling found the GOP-backed candidate down by 8 points.
Then came the deluge: a $1.3 million one-week flood of money that grabbed the seat for the right-winger.
Because we lost that race, the GOP still held a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court after the 2020 census. And then, after Governor Evers vetoed the GOP’s gerrymandered legislative maps, the Supreme Court chose ultra-GOP-tilted maps anyway.
The same thing played out with voting rights. Wisconsin Republicans joined their counterparts in other states by proposing laws to roll back voting rights in 2021, going after, among other targets, absentee ballot drop boxes. Governor Evers vetoed the GOP’s voter suppression bills. But the Republican activists in judicial robes on the state Supreme Court decided to ban drop boxes anyway
So many major elections in Wisconsin are close. Trump won by 0.8% in 2016, and lost by 0.6% in 2020. Mandela Barnes lost to Ron Johnson by 1% in 2022. Supreme Court decisions that suppress votes at the margin can tilt the whole state.
Now, we’re heading into the final two weeks. The wind is at our backs. Janet Protasiewicz, the pro-democracy candidate, has a very real chance of winning on April 4.
But we can’t forget 2011, and we can’t forget 2019. We can take nothing for granted.
We lost by just over one vote per ward in 2011.
We lost by less than one vote per ward in 2019.
If we want to win in 2023, let’s shoot to win by a LOT more than one vote per ward.
In these final two weeks, let’s knock on doors, call phones, and get our message out in every possible way. To elect Judge Janet Protasiewicz, let’s run like we’re one vote per ward behind, the whole time—and do absolutely everything.
In these last two weeks, any amount of support helps. Whether you can join us in Wisconsin or help virtually, volunteers will make the difference in this election. If you have even an hour to spare come join us on the doors or phones: wisdems.org/volunteer.
We’re still fighting against GOP mega-donors. And even though, amazingly, we’re out-raising the GOP at this moment, the lesson of 2019 is that piles of money can show up at the last second. Let’s keep both feet on the gas. Can you chip in to help?
Let’s see if we can hit our goal of 1000 donors in the next 36 hours. Can you chip in? Can you share this post? Can you text it to three friends?
Let’s make history—the good kind.