Wisconsin Democrats pledge a $4 million-plus blitz to counter GOP on impeaching Protasiewicz

MADISON – The Democratic Party of Wisconsin and a coalition of unnamed "allied groups" plan to spend at least $4 million on an effort to dissuade Republican lawmakers from initiating impeachment proceedings against the state Supreme Court's newest justice, former Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz.

The possibility of a legislative attempt to remove her from office looms over Protasiewicz as she assumes her duties on the court one month after being sworn in and flipping its ideological majority from politically conservative to politically liberal.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler told reporters during a Tuesday night briefing that the party and other "democracy defending" groups will launch an "intensive, multi-pronged statewide campaign" on Wednesday "to make clear to Wisconsin Republicans that an attempt to impeach Janet Protasiewicz would be an absolute political, moral and constitutional disaster."

In the month since Protasiewicz was sworn in after winning her April 2022 election with an 11-point margin — an unusually lopsided election in a state known for hotly contested statewide races — behind-the-scenes battles among justices and court employees have escalated with the court's conservative chief justice accusing its new liberal majority of pulling off "an unprecedented coup."

Additionally, Republican lawmakers have raised the prospect of impeaching Protasiewicz if she does not step away from challenges to the state's electoral maps that are currently under the court's consideration. Such proceedings would begin in the state Assembly, where a simple majority must vote to impeach before the state Senate can take it up. From there, the Senate can conduct a trial based on the evidence. If two-thirds of the senators present vote to convict, the official is removed from office.

In the case of a judicial officer, once the Assembly votes to impeach, the official cannot perform the duties of their office without being acquitted by the Senate. That leaves open the possibility the Senate could sit on the Assembly action without scheduling a trial, effectively sidelining Protasiewicz and leaving the court evenly divided at 3-3 on ideological lines.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said it's "common sense" that Protasiewicz should not rule on a case she has "prejudged," referring to the redistricting lawsuits.

In January, Protasiewicz called the state's legislative maps "rigged" in a public forum and in March, she told Capital Times reporters in a podcast interview she would "enjoy taking a fresh look at the gerrymandering question."

"They do not reflect people in this state. I don't think you could sell any reasonable person that the maps are fair," Protasiewicz, a former Milwaukee County judge, said in the January forum. "I can't tell you what I would do on a particular case, but I can tell you my values, and the maps are wrong."

Protasiewicz has pledged to rule impartially regardless of having communicated personal beliefs during her campaign. She has also pledged to recuse herself from cases brought by or against the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, because it spent millions on getting her elected.

Wikler referred to comments made by Vos, R-Rochester, regarding the possibility of impeachment as "an act of political extortion."

The campaign being put forward by the Democratic Party and its associated groups seeks to force GOP lawmakers to "look in the mirror and ask if they're willing to sign a death warrant for democracy in our state," Wikler said.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin's efforts will include door-knocking, phone calls, text messages and other digital outreach, Wikler told reporters.

"Meanwhile, we anticipate other pro-democracy organizations will launch a multimillion-dollar digital and television ad campaign to make sure that every Wisconsinite knows how grave this impeachment threat is and how to contact their legislators about it," Wikler said.

Asked for more details on how the $4 million would be spent, Wikler said he couldn't speak for every group involved in the effort. He said the state party plans to spend at least $1 million on "organizing and statewide mobilization."

"This is the time for thunderous public outrage," Wikler told reporters.

In a statement, Vos said, "all this does is prove that Justice Protasiewicz and the Democrat Party are one and the same."

"We fully expect Justice Protasiewicz will recuse herself from handling a case where she has pre-decided the outcome and the Democrat Party is fully involved," Vos said.

Asked whether advertisements would target any specific lawmakers, Wikler deferred to the thus far unnamed organizations participating in the effort and said he is "confident" more announcements will come from associated groups in the next few days or weeks.

Wikler deflected questions about whether the party might seek to challenge impeachment proceedings in court, or whether it would pursue recall efforts against lawmakers should they vote to impeach Protasiewicz.

"The ideal outcome here is that the state Legislature backs off of these baseless threats, and that we can try to live in a democracy together," Wikler said.

If the Assembly were to vote to impeach, Protasiewicz could not perform the duties of her office without being acquitted by the Senate. If she were removed from office, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers would appoint a successor to fill the remainder of her 10-year-term.

If she were to be removed from office before Dec. 1, a special election would be held to fill the seat on April 2, 2024 — the same day as the state's Republican presidential primary. If she were removed, or were to resign, after Dec. 1, the special election would not occur until 2031.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dems pledge multi-million-dollar blitz to counter GOP on Protasiewicz