Pro-Abortion Hillary Favorite Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat

Leftist jurist Janet Protasiewicz, who was strongly backed by Hillary Clinton and millions from Democratic coffers, won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday.

The Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge benefited from over $8 million in campaign funding from the Wisconsin Democratic Party, as reported by the Associated Press.

Besides the former first lady, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin endorsed the candidate in the technically nonpartisan race for the state Supreme Court.

NBC News projected that the election will swing the current 4-3 conservative majority on the bench to a court controlled by liberals. The network asserted this is the first time in 15 years that conservatives will not hold sway on the high court.

The partisan atmosphere was apparent as the election results became clear. At Protasiewicz’s victory party, the three sitting liberal justices joined her on stage and lifted their arms in celebration. 

The newly minted justice attempted to deflect the role abortion played in her win, though the state turnout was the highest ever for a Wisconsin Supreme Court race not tied to a presidential primary. And the issue was the central focus of most of her ads and messaging.

Protasiewicz outpaced former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, who was supported by pro-life advocates. Then-Gov. Scott Walker appointed him to the bench in 2016, but he lost a 2020 election to retain his seat.

Kelly did not go down without taking several jabs at his opponent. He said he would prefer to “concede to a worthy opponent,” but he did not have one. He described the race against him as the “most deeply deceitful, dishonorable, despicable campaign” he’d ever seen for a judicial seat.

As a parting shot, he called Protasiewicz a “serial liar.” His campaign was widely outspent by that of the victor.

The winner declared that her victory was “really about saving our democracy, getting away from extremism, and having a fair and impartial court.” Her electoral triumph means she serves a 10-year term.

Ben Wikler, Democratic Party chair for Wisconsin, tweeted that the win was “a release valve for twelve years of Democratic rage.” He accused Republicans of “rigging our state and smashing our democracy.” Strong words, especially for a normally sedentary judicial election.