The technically nonpartisan race for the seat set to be vacated by retiring Justice Patience Roggensack broke national fundraising and spending records as the two major political parties, out-of-state billionaires and thousands of individual donors gave money in an effort to determine the ideological swing of the court.
In a state known for its remarkably close elections, Protasiewicz pulled away from Kelly in the early going, racking up a massive lead in the largely Democratic Dane and Milwaukee Counties while keeping it close in the traditionally Republican suburban counties surrounding Milwaukee that have been turning bluer in recent elections.
Protasiewicz ran a campaign that explicitly told voters her “personal values” that women should have the right to an abortion and that the state’s political maps are “rigged” — saying those beliefs wouldn’t weigh on how she hears cases on those issues. She also painted Kelly as an extremist whose history of siding with his own campaign donors when they brought cases before him, his work with the Republican party and his endorsement from anti-abortion groups made him unfit for the court.
On Tuesday night, Protasiewicz said Wisconsinites had voted for “a better and brighter future where our rights and freedoms are protected.”
“These results mean two very important and special things,” she said in her victory speech. “First, it means Wisconsin voters have made their voices heard, they’ve chosen to reject partisan extremism in this state, and second it means our democracy will always prevail.”
