A Consequential Election Just over the Border
- Abigail Carlson
- Mar 3, 2023
- 2 min read
The upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election plays an intricate part in keeping Wisconsin as fair as it is today in terms of partisanship in the electoral college. Recent efforts to redistrict Wisconsin electoral votes have been blocked by a bipartisan conservative judge, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, whose colleagues were pushing to pass a new districting map that would shift Wisconsin to the right more intensely. The court is expected to preside over more attempts to redistrict the state in these next few years prior to the presidential election of 2024.
This Spring’s Supreme Court election offers Democrats a chance to gain the majority within the 7 seat court currently held by a Republican majority, 4 to 3. The spot up for grabs is vacant due to Justice Patience Roggensack retiring. If the court fills the seat with either of
the two democratic candidates, Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz or
Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell, with Protasiewicz projected to be more favored; Democrats have the opportunity to control the vote on consequential issues like abortion and redistricting (PBS Wisconsin 2023).
Here’s why Redistricting is such a big deal:
3% of the needed 270 electoral college votes to win a presidential race could come from Wisconsin(270 to Win 2020).
Where these 10 E.C. votes go is determined by district lines. Lines that have been and continued to be gerrymandered to a Republican advantage (Princeton Gerrymandering Project 2022).
Here’s why Access to Abortion Matters in Wisconsin:
Minnesota is currently one of the few “haven” states for abortion despite majority opinions in places nearby that also support the right to have access to an abortion over a prohibition. Wisconsin is a state where this opinion is shared but whose legislature is not reflective of this (Spectrum News 2022). Due to the overturning of Roe; an old law from 1849, currently criminalizes abortion in Wisconsin today (Swing Left 2023). This law is being challenged by Wisconsin’s Attorney General and it will soon fall on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court to vote on whether to uphold it and on any of its potential replacements. For pro-choice advocates in Wisconsin; a Democratic Supreme Court Majority is a must in changing Wisconsin’s law to match the majority opinion.
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