America


Judge Poses Threat to GOP in Key Swing State


ports “a woman’s freedom to make her own decision on abortion.” Kelly, meanwhile, won the endorsement of anti-abortion groups. While Protasiewicz never prom-


ised to rule one way or another on cases that come before the Supreme Court, she was especially open about her politics during the campaign. On abortion, she said she believed


women have a right to choose. On redistricting, she called the state’s Republican-drawn legislative maps “rigged.” The election’s outcome holds


T


Wisconsin upset may reverse ban on abortion. BY KATHRYN MCKENZIE


he election of liberal Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court has flipped it to a liberal


majority and made it likely the court will reverse the state’s abortion ban ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee Coun-


ty judge, defeated conservative can- didate Daniel Kelly in April in the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history. More than $42.3 million was


spent, according to a WisPolitics. com review, far outstripping the pre- vious record of $15.2 million. The result turned a court with


a 4-3 conservative majority over to liberal control after 15 years, likely affecting a number of issues that have polarized Americans in other states, such as voting rights and Republican control over drawing leg- islative maps. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said


20 NEWSMAX | MAY 2023


that Republicans dropped the ball in the race. “Kelly did not have the resources


he needed. He was outspent dra- matically by the left and, unfortu- nately, conservatives in Wisconsin just didn’t come out in the numbers that we needed them to,” he told Newsmax TV’s Sean Spicer. Abortion dominated the cam-


paign with the court expected in the coming months to decide whether to uphold the state’s abortion ban that’s been on the books since 1849 and was revived after Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer. Protasiewicz was elected to her


10-year term by a 55%-44% margin, about 200,000 votes, confirming a trend to Democrats seen in last November’s midterm elections when Republicans underperformed expec- tations.


Protasiewicz, 60, put abortion at


the center of her campaign, saying in one advertisement that she sup-


major implications for the political future of the battleground state. Just as it did in 2020, the court could issue crucial voting decisions before and after the 2024 presidential elec- tion, including revisiting the state’s congressional and legislative maps, which Republicans drew to maxi- mize their political advantage. Former U.S. Attorney General


Eric Holder, who campaigned for Protasiewicz, said on the eve of the vote: “This is the most important election in this country in 2023.” Over the last dozen years, the Wis-


consin Supreme Court has served as an important backstop for Republi- cans. It certified as constitutional Gov.


Scott Walker’s overhauls to state government that weakened public employee unions, required state- issued identification to vote, and banned ballot drop boxes. But now, Walker told Newsmax,


the new court “could throw out many of our reforms.” He also warned that the new


Supreme Court could overturn the present U.S. House district lines and oversee a new map that could tip the slim Republican majority in the House to the Democrats.


©REUTERS


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