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Liberal judges prevail in Wisconsin

Democrat Jill Karofsky defeated incumbent Justice Daniel Kelly in the contest for control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Photo: Jill for Justice.

It seemed like nature’s gift to the enemies of democracy. If Wisconsin Republicans’ efforts to date were not enough to suppress turnout in the April 7 elections, a deadly pandemic added risking one’s life to legal voting hurdles already in place.

Last week’s hours-long lines of masked voters at too few open polling places during a statewide stay-at-home order proved Wisconsinites were undeterred. Mass cancellations by poll workers meant that in Milwaukee only five of the usual 180 polling locations opened.

Results released Monday night delivered a stunning upset to conservative candidates appointed by Republican former governor Scott Walker.

Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky won a coveted seat on the state Supreme Court. The liberal Karofsky’s win shifts the conservative court’s ideological balance from from 5-2 to 4-3. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Karofsky defeated conservative Justice Daniel Kelly by more than 10 points. Kelly was only the second incumbent State Supreme Court justice turned out at the polls since 1967:

“Tonight, not just Jill Karofsky but democracy prevailed over a politically cynical strategy to weaponize the coronavirus pandemic as a tool of voter suppression,” said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Officially nonpartisan elections for judges have become “something of a joke” in a bitterly partisan environment, said Villanova University professor of political science, John Johannes.

“The fact that the liberal challenger won under these circumstances is a really big deal,” Sara Benesh, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee told the Courthouse News Service.

Two other Walker-appointed judges lost their seats by wide margins: Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judges Paul Dedinsky and Dan Gabler.

Appearing by video conference from home, Karofsky thanked supporters and condemned the decision to hold the election during the pandemic:

“Look, we shouldn’t have had the election on Tuesday,” she said. “It was an untenable decision (on whether to vote), but the people of the state of Wisconsin rose up.

“Anyone who wasn’t brought to tears when they were looking at those people in Milwaukee voting on Tuesday, and voting in Green Bay on Tuesday, just doesn’t have a heart.”

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg slammed an April 6 decision by U.S. Supreme Court conservatives to disallow an extension of the absentee ballot deadline in Wisconsin:

“The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic. Under the District Court’s order, they would be able to do so. Even if they receive their absentee ballot in the days immediately following election day, they could return it,” RBG wrote.

“With the majority’s stay in place, that will not be possible. Either they will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others’ safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own. That is a matter of utmost importance — to the constitutional rights of Wisconsin’s citizens, the integrity of the State’s election process, and in this most extraordinary time, the health of the Nation.”

Adding potential injury to insult, the state’s photo ID law played an as-yet unknown supplemental risk to voters last week. An image from the Janesville Gazette confirms that voters standing in line and using social distancing and masks to avoid infection by COVID-19 might have to risk themselves again by removing masks at check-in. Wisconsin’s photo ID law requires it:

A voter, right, is asked by a poll worker to remove her mask as her ID is examined Tuesday at the Janesville Mall. Poll workers are required to check that voters’ faces match their IDs. Photo: Angela Major

Voters and poll workers exposed to the virus during last week’s election may not show up in the state’s pandemic statistics until this week. The state health department hired an additional 120 workers to help inform people “who may have been exposed to COVID-19 during Tuesday’s election.

Donald Trump carried Wisconsin by 0.7 percentage points in 2016. Republicans losing a statewide race by over 10 points in April could bode ill for his reelection chances in November.

A friend in Milwaukee reflecting on last night’s results texted, “I’ll honestly sleep better tonight.”

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For The Win, 3rd Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide election mechanics guide at ForTheWin.us. This is what winning looks like.
Note: The pandemic will upend standard field tactics in 2020. If enough promising “improvisations” come my way by June, perhaps I can issue a COVID-19 supplement.

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