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Janet Protasiewicz defeated Daniel Kelly in the nonpartisan general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 4, 2023. Protasiewicz and Kelly were the top two vote-getters among the four candidates who ran in the February 21 nonpartisan primary.
The election determined who would succeed retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack, whose term expires in July 2023. While supreme court elections are officially nonpartisan, the court was considered to have a 4-3 conservative majority. With Roggensack—a member of the court's conservative majority—retiring, Protasiewicz's election meant the balance of the court would switch to a 4-3 liberal majority.
NBC's Sam Edelman wrote, "A win by Kelly would retain conservative control of the court, while a win by Protasiewicz would result in a liberal majority — which has not been in place for 15 years — and could determine the fate of issues like abortion rights in the state."
Wisconsin media also identified election administration and legislative redistricting as legal issues the court could address following the election. For more media analysis and commentary on this election, click here.
At the time of the election, Protasiewicz, a former assistant district attorney, had served on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court since 2014. After the primary, Protasiewicz said, "We're saving our democracy in the state of Wisconsin. … I'm talking about the ability to vote, to have a vote that counts about women's rights, reproductive freedoms, the fact that the 2024 presidential election results could likely come into our Supreme Court chamber, just everything people care about."
Kelly previously served on the supreme court from 2016, when Gov. Scott Walker (R) appointed him to fill a vacancy, to 2020, when he lost re-election to Jill Karofsky. Kelly said, "If an activist were to win next April, Wisconsin's public policy would be imposed by four lawyers sitting in Madison instead of being adopted through our constitutional processes. I won't let that happen on my watch."
At a March 21 debate, Protasiewicz criticized Kelly for accepting the endorsements of organizations that oppose abortion and said Kelly would support keeping in place an 1849 state law that prohibits abortion in most cases. She also accused Kelly of advising state Republican officials who planned on sending an alternate slate of electors to Washington D.C. after the 2020 election. Kelly criticized Protasiewicz for accepting contributions from the state Democratic Party and said those contributions might influence her actions as a member of the court. Kelly also criticized Protasiewicz for publicly stating her views on issues that may come before the court, including abortion and legislative redistricting.
