The Wisconsin Supreme Court could become the final arbiter on an array of consequential issues, including the state's prohibition on abortion
Wisconsin Governor Evers has vowed to grant clemency to anyone charged under a pre-Roe abortion ban, if it were to be enforced.
"The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is the most important election in the country this year to set the stage for 2024," Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, toldThe executive director of the Wisconsin GOP, Mark Jefferson, described the contest as one with "every significant issue of the last generation on the ballot."
Outside money has flooded the race, surpassing candidate spending. As of Thursday afternoon, orders for TV and radio ads focused on the race had hit $7 million, according to advertising tracked by Kantar Media/CMAG for the Brennan Center. Experts say the spending on the race could smash the previous record -- $15.2 million spent on a 2004 Illinois Supreme Court race, according to the Brennan Center -- for the most expensive campaign for a single state Supreme Court seat.
The US Supreme Court in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision last June overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent that said that the US Constitution protected abortion rights. Since then, state courts have become ground zero in the legal fights over abortions access. While Protasiewicz has pushed an unabashed abortion rights message in her campaign, the other candidates have found other ways to explicitly or implicitly signal how they'd approach the issue.
Protasiewicz defended her upfront approach to abortion, which made her a target of a complaint alleging that she violated a judicial code of conduct that bars judges from committing to how they will vote on issues that may come before them. Her team has cast the complaint as politically motivated. Last year, the court's conservative majority barred the use of most ballot drop boxes and prohibited local election officials from filling in missing information on absentee ballot return envelopes. Republicans see the state's voter ID law as on the line in the race, with the state GOP's Jefferson accusing Democrats of trying to use the courts to "strike down any ballot security measure they can.
ALSO SEE: Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Wisconsin to ensure abortion clinic access, care in partnership
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