Inside the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

In campaign stops across the state and in media interviews, conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly has consistently emphasized his devotion to the state Constitution.

After qualifying for the April 4 election in last month’s primary, Kelly praised voters who “reaffirmed the centrality of the Constitution to the work of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.” In a 10-minute speech before the Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Conference on Wednesday, he used the word “Constitution” or “constitutional” 14 times.

When voters head to the polls in April, they will not only be choosing a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice. They could also effectively decide the outcome in a highly consequential case currently moving through the courts: the challenge to the state’s near-total ban on abortion.

That’s because, unlike possibly ever before, one of the candidates has all but pledged to restore the rights the law currently blocks, while the other — though far less vocal on the issue — has asserted that abortion “involves taking the life of a human being,” the main argument advanced by backers of the 1849 law.

Saying she didn’t want to risk appearing unfair, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz said Wednesday if elected she would recuse herself from court cases involving the state Democratic Party because of its $2.5 million donation to her campaign.

At the same time, she said she wouldn’t recuse herself from abortion-related cases despite Planned Parenthood planning to spend over $1 million on her behalf. She said the same was true for redistricting cases, though she has called the current legislative maps, which benefit Republicans, “rigged.”

Now that Dan Kelly has advanced as the conservative candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court, GOP leaders are seeking to right their partisan ship after a divisive primary campaign that pitted their two candidates — and many of their high-profile supporters — against one another.

Conservatives are placing an extra emphasis on unifying in their fight against the top vote-getter Tuesday, liberal Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz, after last year’s Republican gubernatorial primary saw similar tussles, which some say contributed to nominee Tim Michels’ November loss to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz said she favors the court debating its administrative rules in public, but conservative candidate Daniel Kelly said such a policy promotes grandstanding instead of efficiency.

“Those hearings should be open,” Protasiewicz told the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board on Tuesday. “I’m all about transparency.”

Janet Protasiewicz has a major early spending lead over Dan Kelly in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, according to media tracking firm Medium Buying.

By early Monday afternoon, liberals had reserved over $7 million in ads between the primary and April 4 general election to boost Protasiewicz’s Wisconsin Supreme Court bid.