Crucial Supreme Court Race in Wisconsin Shatters Spending Record
The race to fill an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court—and determine ideological control of the highest court in one of the country’s most important swing states—has more than doubled the national record for judicial election spending. Over $31 million has been spent to date on advertising ahead of the April 4 election, whose winner is expected to deliver the tie-breaking vote on key issues such as abortion, redistricting, and election law.
Spending is “explosively high because the stakes are so monstrously gigantic,” state Democratic Chair Ben Wikler told Bloomberg Government. “Wisconsin is on a knife’s edge and holds the power to sway a presidential election one way or another.”
In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted 4-3 to block an attempt by political allies of Donald Trump to throw out 200,000 ballots in liberal-leaning counties.
Democrats have put millions behind Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal candidate who’s made no secret of her support for abortion rights. Her campaign has spent about $12.6 million on TV and digital ads, with millions more spent by outside groups. Her opponent, conservative Dan Kelly—a former justice who lost his supreme court seat in 2020—was supported by anti-abortion groups in the primary.
The election could have major implications for the future of abortion access in Wisconsin, where abortion providers have halted services statewide due to a lack of clarity over whether an 1849 law making it a felony to provide an abortion can still be enforced. A case seeking to overturn the old law is currently making its way through the courts. Ultimately, that case could make abortion legal again in Wisconsin, as I reported last fall.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-spending-abortion-2024/
