In what was one of the most closely
watched and most expensive races of the
election season, liberals scored a victory in
the contest for the Wisconsin
Supreme Court, with potential implications for issues
such as abortion, the 2024 election and
gerrymandering.
Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz
beat former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
Daniel Kelly by an
11-point margin, giving liberals a 4-3 majority on the
state’s highest court. The win for Judge
Protasiewicz, who will serve a 10-year term,
marks the first time liberals will enjoy control
of the court in 15 years.
Wisconsin is one
of 14 states that elects state Supreme Court
justices.
Liberals will control the court until at
least 2025 when the term of Justice
Ann Walsh Bradley ends and the liberal judge is up
for reelection.
While this state Supreme Court election was nonpartisan in
a technical sense, political issues were most
certainly on the ballot. And while judicial
elections often receive little attention, this
race is proof that while politics is local,
local politics can have serious implications
on a statewide and national level.
With $45
million spent on this election — the
largest ever of any single state supreme court
contest in the nation — the Wisconsin race is
proof that people are taking a look at the
role of courts and their power to affect
policy.
There are several reasons why the results
of the Wisconsin race matter. For example, abortion
rights were a motivating factor for
Democratic voters, as Wisconsin Democrats made
abortion a key issue in the election, which
drove turnout.
And abortion is one of the first issues
the Wisconsin Supreme Court will likely
confront. When the U.S. Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade with Dobbs.
v. Jackson Women Health Organization and struck down the constitutional
right to an abortion, an 1849
Wisconsin law criminalizing nearly all abortions
was resurrected. The virtually total
1849 ban makes it a felony for a physician to
perform abortions, with no exceptions for rape
and incest, and a vaguely worded exception for
life-saving “therapeutic
abortions.”
A liberal majority on the state court is
expected to strike down the 1849 law, in a
state and a country where abortion rights
enjoy majority
support.
Another issue at stake in Wisconsin is voting rights.
Wisconsin is one of the most extremely
partisan gerrymandered states, providing
Republicans with nearly permanent
control.
The state Supreme Court voted to approve
a Republican redistricting plan that amounted
to hyper-partisan
gerrymandering, providing the GOP with 63 of 99 seats
in the state Assembly, and 23 of 33 seats in
the state Senate. These rigged election laws
have allowed Republicans to bake a two-thirds domination in the legislature, in a state that
votes for Democrats and Republicans on a 50-50
basis.
The recent Republican
supermajority win in the Wisconsin Senate allows
lawmakers to impeach judges and the state’s
Democratic governor.
Moreover, the Republican-controlled state
legislature has enacted draconian measures to
suppress voter turnout, such as voter ID
requirements and curbs on absentee voting. The
Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled last year that absentee
drop boxes were illegal, and banned people
from submitting
ballots on behalf of another voter. A newly constituted court could reverse
Republican voter suppression laws and correct
the grossly distorted election maps that gave
the party an unfair advantage, and shift the balance
of power in Wisconsin.
The shift in power on the Wisconsin court
could disrupt the policy agenda of former GOP Gov.
Scott Walker, who enacted a ban on collective
bargaining rights for public employees and
other efforts to weaken
the competitiveness of the Democratic
Party.
With the focus on issues such as abortion
and voting rights, the Wisconsin Supreme Court
race could provide lessons for other state
races. Moreover, this critical battleground
state could set the standard for the 2024
election season and even help determine the
outcome of the presidential race and control
of the U.S. House and Senate. In 2020, the
Wisconsin high court rejected Trump’s effort
to throw
out ballots in predominantly Democratic
counties. Challenges
to Wisconsin voting laws could lead to the Wisconsin Supreme
Court setting the rules for the 2024 election
and changing the course of history.
This is what is at stake in Wisconsin.
This commentary is
also posted on The
Grio.
