Abortion rights, 2024 election rules at stake in Wisconsin Supreme Court election

The high-stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court election Tuesday will have major ramifications for legislative maps, voting rights and abortion access.

But because Wisconsin is a battleground state, the election also carries national implications for the 2024 presidential race and American democracy.

That's because in 2020, Wisconsin's high court was one vote shy of overturning President Joe Biden’s razor-thin victory in the state.

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In what is technically a nonpartisan race, Janet Protasiewicz, who is backed by the Democrats, and Daniel Kelly, who is supported by Republicans, are running in a contest that has shattered fundraising records.

Conservatives hold the current 4-3 court majority, but liberals are eager for a chance to change the ideological makeup in a state government divided between a Democratic governor and Republican-controlled legislature.

Abortion access referendum

Since the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down Roe v. Wade last June, much of the debate on terminating a pregnancy has shifted to state legislatures and courts.

In Wisconsin, that means elected officials are fighting over an 1849 law that made abortion a felony unless the life of the mother is in danger.

Protasiewicz, a former prosecutor, is being backed heavily by Planned Parenthood and other reproductive rights groups.

She has leaned into making this election about abortion rights and often shares her "personal values" as someone who has been in favor of abortion while maintaining it won't impact her decision-making on the state law.

Kelly, a former state Supreme Court justice, hasn't commented as much about his views on the 1849 law and argues doing so breaks legal ethics.

Politics: Post-Roe abortion battle draws attention to state judicial elections, new legal strategies

More: It's primary election day in Wisconsin. What to know about the 2023 Supreme Court race and the expected voter turnout.

During the campaign he tried to downplay his previous legal work for Wisconsin Right to Life, which has endorsed him, and previous online comments laying out his conservative views opposing abortion.

Mostly, Kelly and his supporters have cast Protasiewicz as weak on crime.

A record-breaking judicial race

One sign that the Wisconsin race matters outside state borders is the deluge of money both sides are pouring into the race.

Early estimates suggest the election is about to surpass the $45 million spending mark, which would crush the previous high for a state judicial election of $15.1 million spent during a 2004 Illinois contest, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

The head-to-head fundraising totals favor Protasiewicz, according to state campaign finance filings. She has raised about $14.5 million, with more than half coming from the state Democratic Party.

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Kelly, meanwhile, has raked in about $2.7 million but has been helped largely by spending from outside groups who have dumped about $15.3 million on his behalf, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Fake electors, Trump and the 2024 election

In terms of presidential races, few states are as close as often as the Badger State, which has had four of the last six White House contests decided by less than a percentage point.

That came into focus when former President Donald Trump asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to revoke the state's 2020 results after losing to Biden by about 21,000 votes.

Kelly's ties to Trump, who endorsed him in 2020, have also been an issue.

Asked about the former president, Kelly told NBC he isn't "looking for endorsements from political actors" in this year's race.

But beyond that is Kelly's alleged involvement in the controversial scheme to assemble a group of fake electors in the weeks following Trump's loss.

A former GOP chairman told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that Kelly was asked to provide legal advice and had "pretty extensive conversations" about the fake elector plan.

But Jim Dick, a spokesman for Kelly, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"After completing his time on the Supreme Court, Daniel Kelly provided legal counsel to several clients, amongst which were the RNC and RPW," Dick said. "It is a maxim in the legal profession that the views of clients are not attributable to their attorneys."

Protasiewicz has called attention to this at several points on the campaign, describing Kelly as a "threat to democracy” given the ties to Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Contributing: Daniel Bice.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Abortion rights, democracy define Wisconsin Supreme Court election