Bice: 5 takeaways from Wisconsin's primary election

A record number of state residents took to the polls on Tuesday to select the two finalists for a crucial swing seat on the state Supreme Court.

In the end, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protesiewicz, a liberal, finished first with a commanding 46.4% of the vote, while former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, a conservative, took second with 24.2%.

The two will square off against each other in six weeks in the April general election, with the winner deciding whether liberals or conservatives control the high court when it takes up such issues as abortion and a host of laws written by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's election:

Tuesday set a record for a spring primary election in Wisconsin

Boy, do we like to vote in Wisconsin.

More than 950,000 state residents cast their ballots on Tuesday, despite the small number of contested races. That's a 35% increase over the old record.

"Wisconsin Supreme Court primary turnout is smashing past records," Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School Poll, tweeted late Tuesday.

The record for turnout in a nonpartisan primary had been in 2020, when 705,138 state residents voted in a three-way race for a seat on the Supreme Court.

A quick reminder: Kelly won the primary that year with more than 50% of the vote, but now-Justice Jill Karofsky defeated Kelly, the incumbent, by more than double digits in the spring general election. Democratic turnout was boosted by the spring presidential primary that year.

Partisan appeals worked in this nonpartisan election

Voters shouldn't have any doubts about what they're getting in the general election.

From the first candidate forum, Protasiewicz was not bashful about her political "values," as she called them. In particular, she said she believes in abortion rights and considers the election maps "rigged."

"I know from going around the state what people care about," Protasiewicz said Tuesday night. "People are extremely concerned about women's productive rights, are extremely concerned about the 2024 presidential election and whether or not that's going to come into our Supreme Court chamber… they are extraordinarily concerned that they don't believe our Supreme Court is working."

Kelly has been highly critical of Protesiewicz, saying she will put her "thumb on the scale of justice" and will replace the rule of law with the "rule of Janet." But Kelly's supporters have played up the fact that he's a conservative who voted to end the state's coronavirus lockdown imposed by Gov. Tony Evers.

What's more, it's emerged in recent days that Kelly was paid $120,000 over the past two years by the state Republican Party and the Republican National Committee to advise them on "election integrity issues" and the failed plan to set up a slate of fake presidential electors in 2020.

Democrats believe they won twice on Tuesday

It has been clear for months that Democrats and liberals were hoping to get Kelly, not Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow, in the general election.

They got their wish — thanks in no small part to A Better Wisconsin Together Political Fund, which spent $2.2 million driving up Dorow's negatives.

Why do Protasiewicz's supporters think Kelly was the weaker general election foe? For a host of reasons. Back in 2020, former President Donald Trump endorsed him, a turnoff to a lot of voters. Now Kelly is tied to that whole fake electors scheme. And he's a guy.

In case you haven't noticed, Wisconsin voters prefer women for their judges and justices. Right now, six of the the state's seven Supreme Court justices are female.

Dick Uihlein wins a primary in Wisconsin

Uihlein, the billionaire co-owner of Uline shipping supplies, has built a reputation for spending big bucks on losing candidates around the country.

As Politico noted earlier this year, sometimes he is with his wife, Liz, in his campaign spending, but often times not. Uline is based in Pleasant Prairie, near the Illinois border.

"While Liz has spent millions of dollars buttressing the party hierarchy, including candidates and super PACs backed by GOP leaders, Dick has invested even more heavily in tearing it down, pouring millions into far-right primary challengers and insurgent groups," Politico reported.

In Wisconsin, Uihlein has most notably spent millions of dollars backing Kevin Nicholson in his failed U.S. Senate bid in 2018 and his unsuccessful gubernatorial effort last year.

But now Uihlein has a winner. His group, Fair Courts America, spent $2.4 million backing Kelly and attacking Protasiewicz. The packaging magnate was the only one funding the super PAC.

The question now is, how much more will Uihlein be willing to spend? Kelly has estimated that his side will need $20 million to win.

Democratic shenanigans didn't work

It sounded like a good idea.

State Democrats thought their candidate, Jodi Habush Sinykin, would have a better chance of winning the seat representing the Senate's 8th District if she ran against far-right Republican Rep. Janel Brandtjen.

So they paid for advertisements that touted how far to the right Brandtjen was in hopes of appealing to the district's conservative voters.

In one ad, Brandtjen is called "too conservative" on abortion — a message portrayed as criticism but also expected to win over GOP primary voters.

Well, the strategy didn't work. Rep. Dan Knodl ended up with 57% of the vote, while Brandtjen finished with 27% and Thiensville Village President Van Mobley got 15%.

Perhaps it's time the two parties realize that voters are not as dumb as they often are assumed to be.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Five takeaways from Wisconsin's primary election