The nation has its eyes on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race as the tension between the candidates intensify. Issues of abortion rights and control of the legislature in Wisconsin hang in the balance.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates: Dan Kelly and Janet Protasiewicz. (Photo: CNN)
A Small-Scale Election Turned Into a National Sensation
What could have been a small political contest between two people has now drawn national attention with so much at stake for Wisconsin and its future. Voters are to choose between Janet Protasiewicz and Dan Kelly. Protasiewicz is a liberal-backed circuit court judge from Milwaukee County while Kelly is a former Supreme Court Justice supported by the Republicans. Kelly is looking to reclaim the position he was appointed in way back in 2016 but was defeated in the 2020 US elections.
What made the Wisconsin Supreme Court race garner so much attention is the rising tension between candidates and how will they tend to the issues of Wisconsin, should either of them win. Kelly and Protasiewicz have been at each other’s backs during the campaign, which is why the Wisconsin Supreme Court race garnered national attention. In the rising tension between the candidates, Protasiewicz adds that Kelly had some help with Andrew Hitt, a former Wisconsin GOP Chairman. Kelly fires back at Protasiewicz, saying that she was “lying” about him. Kelly also has his campaign centered on Protasiewicz’s treatment of crime, implying that she has little regard for the issue. All of these and more add to the intensifying tension of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
In connection with the 2020 elections, if Kelly had won that time, who was a known Trump ally, would have ruled over Biden‘s votes in Wisconsin, and he would have been the prime vote of the election.
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What happens if Protasiewicz or Kelly wins?
Should Protasiewicz win the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, there will be a majority of 4-3 on the liberal side, a first after 15 years. If Kelly wins, the Republicans will be strengthened further, even after Kelly’s term, should he be appointed. Protasiewicz reached out and stressed that she was willing to revisit the major issues of Wisconsin, matters that are important to its people. Kelly, on the other hand, is fully set on having the position, with the Republicans backing him up. With all of that in mind, the Wisconsin Supreme Court race may already have a clear winner.
“Every race in Wisconsin is nationally important because the high court, like all state high courts, decides important issues of state constitutional law,” explained Daniel Suhr, the Liberal Justice Center’s managing attorney, a Wisconsin legal group. This makes the Wisconsin Supreme Court race nationally relevant, regardless of the tension.
It was said that judges never lost a Supreme Court race in years, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court is no exception. Here, Kelly proves to be a formidable opponent. In the end, it all comes down to the voters who will be their choice, and their choice will change the future of Wisconsin in the coming years. What happened here in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race will be remembered as one of the most controversial and feisty Supreme Court races in the future, not only in Wisconsin but in the whole United States.
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