The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Daniel Donner, and Cara Zelaya, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Subscribe to The Downballot, our weekly podcast
Leading Off
● WI Supreme Court: Progressive Judge Janet Protasiewicz extended her already enormous fundraising lead in her final report before next week's pivotal Supreme Court election, posting a haul of $12.4 million between Feb. 7 and March 20 compared to just $2.2 million for her conservative opponent, former Justice Dan Kelly. During that timeframe, Protasiewicz spent $10.6 million but still had $2.1 million left for the stretch run while Kelly spent only $2 million and had less than $400,000 in his coffers.
Protasiewicz benefited heavily from $8 million in donations from the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which in turn received $1 million contributions from three billionaires, including Holocaust survivor George Soros and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The $3.3 million Protasiewicz brought in from individual donors was nonetheless greater than Kelly's take during this six-week period. Kelly has similarly enjoyed major billionaire support of his own from the Uihlein family, though most of the $4.5 million they've put in has gone to a super PAC rather than to Kelly's campaign directly.
The candidates and their allies have also begun airing their final TV ads. Protasiewicz released two almost entirely positive closing spots, one in which she touts her impartiality and another that focuses on her support for abortion rights and notes that voters will soon "decide the balance of the Supreme Court." (The second one briefly calls Kelly "an extremist.") Kelly and his top backers, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Uihlein-funded super PAC Fair Courts America, are all staying negative, with each running new ads that, as before, accuse Protasiewicz of issuing lenient sentences to criminals.
House
● OH-09: Dan Wilczynski, the former mayor of the small town of Walbridge (pop. 3,000), launched a campaign to challenge Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur on Monday, making him the first Republican to enter the race. Wilczynski, an engineer, was short-listed for a spot on Ohio's Public Utilities Commission last year, but Gov. Mike DeWine ultimately reappointed an incumbent. Kaptur is one of just five House Democrats who represent a district carried by Donald Trump.
● RI-01: Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, who declined to rule out a bid in the hours after Rep. David Cicilline announced his surprise resignation, now says she's considering entering the Democratic primary for the as-yet unscheduled special election for Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District. Baldelli-Hunt, who is the aunt of Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, said she has no timetable for making a decision.
Mayors and County Leaders
● Chicago, IL Mayor: On behalf of Northwestern University and a coalition of Black and Latino advocacy groups, the Democratic pollster BSP Research has conducted a survey of next week's runoff in Chicago showing a 44-all tie between Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.
