Battle for control of Wisconsin Supreme Court sees liberal and conservative advance to final round
“I can’t inform you how I’ll rule in any case, however all through this race, I’ve been clear about what my values are,” Protasiewicz mentioned throughout her victory speech, pointing to her help for abortion entry, voting rights and public security.
The eventual winner will assist resolve main circumstances which can be probably to come earlier than the courtroom. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and state Lawyer Common Josh Kaul sued to overturn a greater than century-old state legislation banning most abortions, which might make its method to the state Supreme Court later this yr. The courtroom may be poised to have a say on election legal guidelines, because it has previously.
The race — a down-ballot contest in an off-year — introduced in hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. From the start of the yr by means of the first election, advert spending reached over $9 million on tv, digital and radio, per AdImpact. The highest spender was Honest Courts America, a brilliant PAC linked to GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein, which has put in round $2.8 million in help of Kelly. Final yr, the group mentioned it meant to spend “hundreds of thousands of {dollars}” on Kelly’s candidacy.
Not far behind Honest Courts America was Protasiewicz, who aired a strong advert blitz backed by a $2.3 million spend. She raised greater than $725,000 from the beginning of the year through Feb. 6 — greater than all of her opponents’ mixed fundraising in that interval. Her marketing campaign mentioned it raised greater than $2 million since she entered the race in Might, a record-breaking sum for a spring main candidate in Wisconsin.
A Higher Wisconsin Collectively Political Fund — the identical group that spent shut to $4 million on the governor’s race in help of Evers final election — spent $2.2 million on commercials hitting Dorow. Dorow spent over $600,000, and exterior teams made up the remainder of the spending.
