Officially, the race is nonpartisan, but one candidate is closely aligned with Republicans and the other with Democrats. The state parties and dark-money groups are the biggest spenders in the race.
Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz shored up Democratic support early in the race and easily rolled through Tuesday’s primary. She has said she backs abortion rights and condemned the election maps as “rigged.”
Conservatives were more bitterly divided, leading to a contentious fight for the other spot on the general election ballot. Emerging from the primary was Daniel Kelly, who was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2016 by Gov. Scott Walker (R). While campaigning, Kelly — who lost his seat in a 2020 election — has touted his rulings to allow concealed guns on city buses and end the coronavirus lockdown imposed by Gov. Tony Evers (D).
Kelly edged out Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, who has cited her Republican ties and condemned a decision that expanded gay rights. Dorow drew national attention last year for her steady handling of the chaotic trial of a man convicted of killing six people when he drove a vehicle into a Christmas parade.
Speaking from a stage surrounded by liberal supporters holding “Judge Janet” placards, Protasiewicz urged her backers to resume the campaign on Wednesday, noting the general election is six weeks away. She spoke at a Milwaukee event space before she knew who else had won the primary, but signaled she would focus on the same issues no matter who her opponent turned out to be.
“I’ll be running against someone who doesn’t think women get to make their own reproductive rights. I will guarantee you — I will guarantee you — that my opponent if elected will uphold the 1849 near-total abortion ban,” she said, holding her right hand aloft.
Protasiewicz was joined at her election-night party by the three liberals on the seven-member court.
At Kelly’s election night party in a barbecue restaurant in suburban Milwaukee, the crowd erupted in cheers when the Associated Press called the race for Kelly and video of Dorow giving her concession speech played on large-screen TVs behind the bar.
With his microphone cutting in and out, Kelly thanked the crowd and warned of dark times if he loses in April.
“Janet Protasiewicz’s promise to set aside our law and our Constitution whenever they conflict with her personal values cannot be allowed to stand,” he said. “Never before has a judicial candidate openly campaigned on the specific intent to set herself above the law, to put her thumb on the scales of justice to ensure the results satisfy her personal interests rather than the commands of the law. … If we do not resist this assault on our Constitution and our liberties, we will lose the rule of law and find ourselves saddled with the rule of Janet.”
Protasiewicz has rebuffed such attacks, saying she isn’t prejudging cases but letting voters know her values. She has criticized Kelly for his rulings and the endorsement he received in 2020 from Donald Trump. In a recent podcast interview, she said a liberal majority could establish new election maps and reverse a 12-year-old law that all but eliminated collective bargaining for public workers in Wisconsin.
“I just think that there are so many issues that are possible or probable that can come before our Supreme Court when we change the balance of power,” she said.
Guests at Kelly’s party included a member of the state Supreme Court’s conservative majority and a Republican who sits on the state’s elections commission.
According to unofficial results, Protasiewicz had about 46 percent of the vote, Kelly had about 24 percent of the vote and about 22 percent went to Dorow. Nearly 1 million voters cast ballots, which is about 20 percent of eligible voters and nearly twice as many as in February 2018, when a state Supreme Court primary was last held.
An unlikely alliance helped Kelly survive the primary. A group run by GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein spent $2.4 million backing him, while a liberal group plastered the airwaves with $2.2 million in ads vilifying Dorow. Some Democratic Party leaders wanted Kelly to get through the primary because they believe he would be easier to beat in April than Dorow. He lost his 2020 race by 10 points.
Kelly has said he lost his earlier race by such a wide margin because Wisconsin held its presidential primary at the same time, and Democratic turnout was high.
At an inn a quarter of a mile from Kelly’s party in Okauchee Lake, Dorow thanked supporters, said she would back Kelly and criticized Protasiewicz.
“We came up a little short,” Dorow said. “I’m disappointed but I’m really happy that I’ll get to support a conservative candidate going forward.”
Tuesday’s primary also ended the campaign of Everett Mitchell, a Dane County judge and pastor who sought the support of liberals but struggled with fundraising.
Voter Nancy Clapper, 80, said she cast her ballot for Kelly because she wants to make sure abortion remains illegal. She said she had reservations about Dorow after seeing ads that criticized some of her sentences.
“I’m more conservative, and I know the other lady was supposed to have done so well with the Christmas parade trial, but she did not too well on some of the other things,” Clapper said after voting at a library in Waunakee, a village north of Madison.
Jean Osteraas, 75, said she voted for Protasiewicz because of her views on abortion and voting rights. A retired teacher, Osteraas said she hopes to see the court overturn the state’s abortion ban.
“I think it’s unfair to women,” she said of Wisconsin’s ban on abortion. “Let us choose to do what we want with our own bodies.”
