Wisconsin’s Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August. Democrats have high hopes the change will lead to the state’s abortion ban being overturned and its Congressional maps redrawn.
Democrats in the perennial battleground state focused on abortion to elect a liberal majority to the court for the first time in 15 years. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the court’s 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Her April victory broke national spending records for a state Supreme Court race.Still, there are no guarantees.
The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court within months. Protasiewicz all but promised to overturn the ban by repeatedly speaking out for abortion rights, winning support from Planned Parenthood and others. The state Supreme Court upheld Republican-drawn maps in 2022. Those maps, widely regarded as among the most gerrymandered in the country, have helped Republicans increase their hold on the Legislature to near supermajority levels, even as Democrats have won statewide elections, including Tony Evers as governor in 2018 and 2022 and Joe Biden in 2020.Protasizewicz declared those maps to be “rigged” and said during the campaign they should be given another look.
That includes voting rules. Courts have repeatedly upheld Wisconsin’s voter ID requirement, in place since 2011, but some Democrats see a chance to challenge it again, particularly over what IDs can legally be shown. There is also a looming fight over the state’s top elections administrator. Other sticky issues that have garnered bipartisan criticism, including powers of the governor, also could come before the new court.
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