Voters in Wisconsin are casting ballots Tuesday in one of the most important elections of 2023 – a contest that will determine the ideological balance of the state’s supreme court.
The court will likely determine the future of abortion in Wisconsin, as a lawsuit challenging the state’s 1849 ban is already winding its way through the courts. It is also poised to play a hugely consequential role in setting election rules for the 2024 presidential election in Wisconsin, a key battleground state. It could also get rid of the state’s legislative maps, which are so distorted in favor of Republicans that it’s nearly impossible for Democrats to ever win a majority.
Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee judge, is facing off against Dan Kelly, a conservative who lost his seat on the supreme court in 2020. Conservatives currently have a 4-3 majority on the state’s highest court, but one of its conservative justices is retiring, meaning that the outcome of the election will determine the ideological balance of the court.
The race is the most expensive judicial race in American history. More than $45m has been spent, shattering the $10m record that was spent in Wisconsin in 2020 as well as the national record $15m spent on an Illinois race in 2004. Protasiewicz’s campaign has received significant financial backing from the Wisconsin Democratic party, while Kelly’s has been bolstered by spending from outside groups, most notably a super Pac backed by GOP megadonors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. Kelly has also received donations from individuals who tried to overturn the 2020 election.
Abortion has dominated the race, as have concerns about voting rights and crime. “I don’t think that any human being on the face of the earth should control what I do with my body,” McKenzie Schroeder, 30, who is from Sun Prarie and works for a property management company and is a waitress, told the Guardian last month.
Polls open at 7am and close at 8pm.
( Information from politico.com was used in this report. Also if you have any problem of this article or if you need to remove this articles, please email here and we will delete this immediately. [email protected] )