Liberal Janet Protasiewicz defeats conservative Dan Kelly in closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court race

Wisconsin voters on Tuesday gave control of the state’s highest court to liberals for the first time in 15 years, instantly reshaping politics in the Badger State by putting the state laws most celebrated by conservatives at risk of being overturned — including a 19th century-era ban on abortions.

Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in a race that served as a referendum on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, shattering national spending records and attracting a level of political warfare unseen before in a state judicial race.

"Today I’m proud to stand by the promise I’ve made to every Wisconsinite that I will always deliver justice and bring common sense to our Supreme Court," Protasiewicz told supporters after she was declared the winner.

Protasiewicz, 60, defeated Kelly after spending millions on a campaign largely focused on telling voters she supports abortion access, a partisan appeal to voters that was unprecedented in a judicial race before and forecasted how she might vote on a lawsuit seeking to repeal the state's abortion ban that's expected to land before the high court.

"Our state is taking a step forward to a better and brighter future where our rights will be protected," she said.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:55 p.m., less than an hour after polls closed, with Protasiewicz ahead by double digits in a state where statewide races are often decided by one or two percentage points.

After the race was called for Protasiewicz, Kelly refused to call his opponent to concede the race, saying he respected the voters' decision but not her.

"I wish, in a circumstance like this, I would be able to concede to a worthy opponent. But I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede," Kelly told supporters at a campaign event in Green Lake, calling Protasiewicz a "serial liar." "I wish Wisconsin the best of luck, because I think it’s going to need it."

He called Protasiewicz's campaign "dishonorable and despicable," and said he was concerned for the future of the state.

"She's demeaned the judiciary with her behavior," he said, referring to Protasiewicz's partisan appeals to voters on the issues of abortion and redistricting. "This is the future we have to look forward to in Wisconsin." 

Meanwhile, at the Saint Kate Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, all three members of the court's future liberal majority were celebrating at Protasiewicz's event.

"When I got on the court, it was considered one of the best Supreme Courts in the country, and our challenge is to return it to that stature, not only in the eyes of the country but in the hearts and minds of the people of Wisconsin. We can do it," said Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who's the longest-serving member of the liberal wing of the court and could become the next chief justice.

Supreme Court Justice Jill Karofsky said the result left her speechless. Karofsky, who defeated Kelly in 2020, attended Protasiewicz's party with Walsh Bradley and Justice Rebecca Dallet.

"I am so happy for the people, I am so happy for the state of Wisconsin," Karofsky said. "I think they spoke loudly. I think that the case Janet made for taking back our state, for the rights of the people really resonated and the people made it clear they do not want Dan Kelly." 

Protasiewicz and the justices at the event didn't comment on Kelly's speech.

Dan Kelly has lost 2 Supreme Court races by similar margins

This is Kelly's second election loss in a row. Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker appointed Kelly to the state Supreme Court in 2016 and Kelly lost his seat in 2020, when Karofsky defeated him by 11 percentage points.

Kelly argued during a contentious primary election against Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow that he deserved a second shot at campaigning for a seat on the court, attributing his 2020 loss to a Democratic presidential primary being on the same ballot that year.

Rebecca Bradley, a member of the court's current conservative majority, told Kelly's supporters Tuesday that the results of the election will have "grave" consequences. Ann Walsh Bradley and Rebecca Bradley are not related.

"We will now have four people on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin who will take away the power of the people to rule themselves, to govern themselves and the legislature," Bradley said. "And I don't think that's what anybody in this room wanted, what most of the people of Wisconsin wanted."

The new liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is now expected to take up legal challenges to a number of controversial and high-profile policies enacted in the last decade under a Republican-controlled state Legislature.

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Lawsuits could be filed over abortion access, the state’s legislative maps, Wisconsin’s right-to-work law, private school voucher programs, the governor’s power to act unilaterally, voting restrictions, campaign finance rules and Walker’s signature legislation that catapulted him to a brief presidential run: a law limiting collective bargaining for public employees known as Act 10.

The election result also has implications for Wisconsin’s role as the closest battleground state in the country, after the court in 2020 rejected a slate of lawsuits from former President Donald Trump or his allies seeking to overturn the state’s election victory for President Joe Biden.

And Democrats now control two of state government’s three branches for the first time since 2008 and have at least a chance at reducing the massive Republican majorities in the state Legislature.

The victory for Democrats comes after more than $45 million was spent on the state Supreme Court race — more than quadruple what was spent in the last race and more than triple the national record.

The spending, in part, reflected a race that resembled a race for U.S. Senate, governor or attorney general instead of a judicial race that's labeled on ballots as nonpartisan.

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