According to NPR, “Democrats have scored a major off-year election victory in Wisconsin, winning the state’s open supreme court seat and flipping control of the court to liberals for the first time in 15 years. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz won the hotly contested race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to a race call[ed] by The Associated Press, defeating former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. Spending in the campaign shattered the previous national record for a state supreme court election.” And to be clear, the margin of victory is considered a landslide (>10 bps).
A Protasiewicz win was a somewhat foregone conclusion, given the results of last month’s primary election that led to yesterday’s runoff. Protasiewicz’s margin of victory over Kelly last month suggested that a re-match would be a win for her, but, of course, it is never certain until the final vote is counted. Nonetheless, flipping the Wisconsin Supreme Court from a conservative to a liberal majority is a huge victory and portends that maybe — just maybe — the scourge of conservativism may be reversed in this pivotal swing state. The consequences of this election are particularly significant. Beyond women now being on track to get their right to abortive healthcare back, the heavily RepubliKKKlan gerrymandered election map can be scrapped, which means Democrats have a chance to pick up seats in the U.S. House and in state chambers. The political field will become level after 15+ years of being dominated by RepubliKKKlan illegitimately. Not to mention the Wisconsin Supreme Court controlled by liberals will ensure the results of the next presidential election be honored.
Although I am a long way from saying Democrats are getting their groove back when it comes to winning elections and voters are starting to pay attention to politics in a manner that they need to be to save America’s democracy, this election result undoubtedly is encouraging. Hard to end this post with “welcome to stupid America.” Indeed, all this winning endangers my brand, but one must still question how this election result squares with a state that re-elected Ron Johnson.