An unabashed abortion rights supporter won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week in a stunning 11-point victory over a conservative antiabortion judge. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz’s defeat of former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly gives the court a liberal majority for the first time in years.
As in other state elections since Roe v. Wade was overturned last June, voters have turned out when abortion was on the ballot and made it clear they support reproductive rights. That was certainly the case in Wisconsin, where abortion is unavailable except in cases in which the pregnant person’s life is in danger. The contentious race, which drew national attention and funding, is considered the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history.
But what also makes it unusual is how partisan this nonpartisan judicial race became. It’s not just that Protasiewicz was backed by the Democratic Party and abortion rights groups, or that Kelly, who provided legal advice in the past to Wisconsin Right to Life, was backed by the Republican Party (which he also worked for in 2020) and antiabortion groups. It was notable because Protasiewicz intentionally made her support for abortion rights clear. “I think the electorate deserves to know what a person’s values are rather than hiding them,” she said during the race’s only election debate.
