Progressives won their first majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 15 years on Tuesday night when Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Justice Daniel Kelly, a victory that will have huge repercussions for voting rights and abortion access. Protasiewicz prevailed 56-44 in her bid for a 10-year term to succeed retiring conservative Justice Pat Roggensack.
Though the race was officially nonpartisan, the ideological battle lines were unmistakable. Protasiewicz’s victory in this $45 million contest―which shattered the record for the most expensive state Supreme Court race in American history―now gives liberals a 4-3 majority on the Badger State’s highest court. Kelly’s allies, including Republican megadonors Dick and Liz Uihlein and the powerful business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, tried to avert this outcome by running a barrage of ads attacking Protasiewicz as weak on crime, but their message failed to have a big enough impact.
Partly that was due to Protasiewicz's massive financial edge throughout the race, which allowed her to air more ads thanks to cheaper rates afforded to candidates. She used that advantage to argue that if Kelly returned to the high court, he’d vote to keep the state's 1849 abortion ban in force. Protasiewicz also voiced her opposition to the GOP's legislative gerrymanders, which have all but guaranteed huge Republican majorities despite Wisconsin's swingy nature, blasting the maps as "rigged."
Progressives had been in the minority on the Supreme Court since 2008, but they’re set to control the court for at least two years. The next race is scheduled for 2025, when another liberal, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, is due to go before voters again.
State supreme court races are a favorite topic of ours, and there are literally dozens more on the ballot in 2024, so we're previewing the top battles with Carah Ong Whaley of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics on this week's episode of The Downballot podcast. Carah tells us how and why so much money has come to be spent on supreme court elections in recent decades before diving into next year's key contests, including several states where control is on the line, like Ohio, Michigan, and Montana. With the stakes high for redistricting reform, abortion rights, and democracy, progressives everywhere will want to stay up-to-date on all of these races.