Here's everything you need to know about Wisconsin's Supreme Court race, the candidates and what's at stake
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Wisconsin voters will head to the polls April 4 to cast their ballots in the election for the state Supreme Court between former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly and Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz.
Here's what you need to know about the candidates and the issues at stake in the race:
About the Wisconsin Supreme Court race
It's one of the most highly anticipated races in the country — and the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. The position, which opened when Justice Patience Roggensack decided not to run for reelection, will determine the court's majority and play a critical role in several highly contentious court cases.
Conservatives now hold a 4-3 majority but Roggensack is one of the conservatives. If Kelly wins in what is officially a nonpartisan race, they'll maintain their majority. But if Protasiewicz wins, she and her fellow liberal judges will hold the majority.
The election will shape rulings on issues such as abortion rights, voting rights and legislative maps that have kept Republicans in control of the Legislature for more than a decade.
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices serve a 10-year term. The next Supreme Court election will be in 2025, when liberal Ann Walsh Bradley's term will expire.
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About Daniel Kelly
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, 59, received his law degree from Regent University School of Law in 1991. He describes himself as a constitutional conservative.
Before becoming a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, Kelly worked with the large Milwaukee law firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren for 15 years but left it in 2013. He spent a year as the vice president and general counsel for the Kern Family Foundation, which was established by the founders of Generac Power Systems. In 2014, Kelly formed a small law firm in Waukesha with attorney Rod Rogahn.
He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016 by former Gov. Scott Walker following the retirement of former Justice David Prosser. Kelly lost his 2020 bid to remain a Supreme Court seat to liberal Jill Karofsky. During that race, Kelly received endorsements from major conservative political players, including former President Donald Trump.
More: 'He's known as a lawyer's lawyer': Daniel Kelly pins Supreme Court run on conservative credentials
More: Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly announces 2023 run to rejoin the court
About Janet Protasiewicz
Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, 60, served as a Milwaukee County prosecutor for more than 25 years, prosecuting domestic abuse and other violent crimes. She received her law degree from Marquette Law School and taught as a professor at Marquette.
She was first elected to the Milwaukee County bench in 2013. Currently, she presides over cases in family court and has presided over misdemeanor, homicide, sexual assault and drug cases.
Protasiewicz describes herself as a judicial liberal. Before becoming a judge, she protested against Act 10, which rolled back collective bargaining rights for most public employees, and signed the petition to recall then-Gov. Scott Walker. During this campaign, she has made public her views on abortion, saying that she's pro-choice.
More: Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz assails state's election maps as 'rigged'
Issues at stake in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Abortion
Abortions were legal until 20 weeks of pregnancy in Wisconsin until last summer, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, which had legalized the practice nationwide. The state's revived 1849 abortion ban outlaws all abortions unless a mother would die without one.
Though Gov. Tony Evers responded that he would veto any bill that does not codify Roe, the issue will likely end up in the hands of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
More: Both sides of the abortion debate gear up for a pitched battle in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race
Act 10
Act 10, which became law in 2011, cut the take-home pay of government workers and caused unions to shrivel by cutting collective bargaining rights for most public workers.
The divisive policy, introduced just weeks after former Gov. Scott Walker's first days in office, cut public employees’ pay by requiring them to pay more for their health insurance and pensions. Those making $50,000 a year saw their take-home pay cut by about 8.5%, according to an analysis by the Legislature’s budget office at the time. The act also limited workers' capacity to negotiate on raises and vacation time.
More: Janet Protasiewicz says Act 10 is unconstitutional and she might recuse herself from future cases
More: 4 things to know about Act 10 and its profound effect on Wisconsin a decade later
Elections
The court's leaning could be critical in potential challenges to the state's electoral maps leading into the 2024 presidential and U.S. Senate elections. Recent court decisions have given Republicans outsized majorities in the Legislature and rulings on Wisconsin's election laws.
Critics of Kelly have said his previous work for the Republican Party makes him unsuited for a role on the Supreme Court, saying that his actions contributed to further distrust in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and Wisconsin's democratic process. Kelly was paid nearly $120,000 by the state Republican Party and the Republican National Committee over for his work on election issues. Kelly has said his legal advice amounted to a 30-minute phone call.
This work drew national attention during the Jan. 6 hearings after former state Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt said he and Kelly had "pretty extensive conversations" about the fake elector scheme in which Wisconsin Republicans covertly convened a group of Republicans inside the state Capitol in the weeks following Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden to sign paperwork falsely claiming to be electors.
Protasiewicz said she would recuse herself from hearing lawsuits brought by or against the Democratic Party of Wisconsin because of the millions of dollars the state party has funneled into her campaign.
How to vote
Find your polling location at myvote.wi.gov.
To vote by mail, you can submit your request for an absentee ballot.
You can vote early and in-person in your municipality beginning two weeks before election day. Office hours will vary depending on the municipality.
More: Wisconsin 2023 spring election: How to register, where to vote and what's on the ballot
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Supreme Court race: Here's everything you need to know
