The Wisconsin supreme court will have a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years after Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated her conservative opponent, former state supreme court judge Dan Kelly, to win a seat on the state’s highest court.
With more than 95 percent of the vote counted, Protasiewicz won 55.5 percent to 44.5 percent, drawing an end to what proved to be the most expensive state supreme court race in U.S. history with $42 million spent, per the Associated Press.
Protasiewicz, who was elected to a ten-year term, will replace retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack, clinching a 4-3 liberal majority on the court for at least the next two years. Protasiewicz’s win could have major implications for abortion in the state, as the court is likely to decide a pending challenge the state’s 1849 law banning abortion. The race could also be influential for other issues, including election laws and redistricting ahead of the 2024 presidential race.
Ben Wikler, the chair of the state Democratic Party, wrote in a tweet that the race was “a release valve for twelve years of Democratic rage in Wisconsin about Republicans rigging our state and smashing our democracy.”
Protasiewicz, whose campaign and supporters far outspent Kelly’s campaign and supporters, celebrated her win in a victory speech on Tuesday evening, saying voters had “chosen to reject partisan extremism in this state” and said, “Our democracy will always prevail.”
“Too many have tried to overturn the will of the people,” she said, taking a shot at Kelly, whom she attacked repeatedly throughout the race for having advised Republicans on legal efforts to overturn the 2020 race via “fake electors.”
“Today’s results show that Wisconsinites believe in democracy and the democratic process,” she said.
Kelly conceded the race on Wednesday but claimed his opponent had run “the mostly deeply deceitful, dishonorable, despicable campaign I’ve ever seen run for the courts.”
“The people of Wisconsin have chosen the rule of Janet. I respect that decision because it is theirs to make,” said Kelly, who lost his seat on the state Supreme Court in 2020 to liberal Jill Karofsky.
“I wish I would be able to concede to a worthy opponent,” he added, “but I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede.”