This coming Tuesday, April 4, is the Wisconsin state supreme court election, and all eyes are on the outcome, which will determine the balance of the court leading into the 2024 election. The Economist goes into detail this week about why winning this single seat on the Wisconsin supreme court matters so much. Republicans have gerrymandered Wisconsin so hard, it’s barely a functioning democracy. A supreme court with a liberal majority is the best defense against a radical rightwing legislature that feels free to ignore the actual voters in a true swing state.
This election’s a big deal, and Democrats have invested heavily in potentially flipping conservative Justice Patience Roggensack’s seat. Since February, Democratic-affiliated Judge Janet Protasiewicz has outraised her conservative opponent, former Justice Daniel Kelly, more than five to one. She raised $12.4 million between Feb. 7 and March 20, with more than $8.8 million coming from the state Democratic Party, which consistently punches above its weight — a much-needed contrast to Florida’s Washington Generals-style party.
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Protasiewicz has spent a whopping $10.6 million and has almost $2.1 million cash on hand. Kelly reported raising $2.2 million during the pre-election period. He’s spent $2 million and has $395,098 in the bank.
The national significance of this race is clear from the zip codes of Protasiewicz’s donors. More than $2 million of the almost $3.3 million she’s raised from individuals came from about 17,000 out-of-state contributors. Only three of the 30 donors who’ve given Protasiewicz the legal maximum of $20,000 live in Wisconsin. One of the three max donors from within the state is Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.
Meanwhile, Kelly has reported just $156,935 from non-Wisconsinites. Republicans are trying to make Protasiewicz’s out-of-state contributions an issue, but it’s a good bet that they’d prefer that more out-of-state conservatives were funneling cash to Kelly.
So far, Protasiewicz has spent $8.3 million on TV ads during the past six weeks. Kelly obviously has far less money to spend on campaign ads, but on the bright side, here’s a freebie from Everytown for Gun Safety:
Kelly did scrounge together some cash for some low-rent attack ads. One features three Wisconsin sheriffs staring stoically in the distance, perhaps because they’re standing outside in the snow and aren’t wearing coats. This Southerner already doesn’t trust them. The sheriffs say in the ad, “Our officers risk their lives to protect your families. But law enforcement’s hands are tied when judges like Janet Protasiewicz refuse to hold dangerous criminals accountable.”
Republican state Rep. Dan Knodl, who’s running for a state Senate seat, said he’d consider impeaching Protasiewicz for her radical record that he apparently just learned about (she’s been on the Circuit Court for a decade).
Another Kelly ad looks like a shot-by-shot remake of George H.W. Bush’s gross Willie Horton ad, and it also blasts Protasiewicz as soft on crime, but with more overt racism. You’ll have to take our word for it, though, because we’re not going to screw up like Sam Seaborn on the “West Wing” and inadvertently help amplify the negative ad. (Yes, I wasted my 20s.)
During last week’s debate, Protasiewicz pushed back against Kelly’s attacks.
“Those commercials are unfair. My entire life has been rooted in protecting our community, and my sentences as well,” she said. “I haven’t sentenced hundreds, but I have sentenced thousands of people. And it’s interesting that a handful of cases have been cherry picked and selected and twisted and insufficient facts have been provided to the electorate.”
Painting a liberal opponent as “soft on crime” helped Sen. Ron Johnson squeak out a victory over Mandela Barnes, but Protasiewicz has a certain advantage over Barnes that could help her hold key Wisconsin voters. Protasiewicz’s own ads focus more on her impartiality and objectivity, but this one does get to the point eventually that she supports reproductive freedom unlike anti-choice zealot Kelly. Let’s bring this home, Judge Janet.
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