OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As the election for the next Wisconsin Supreme Court judge closes in, Republicans got some tough news.
Democrat Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz has outraised her conservative opponent Daniel Kelly to the tune of more than 5-to-1 in the most recent reporting period, which is due in part to more than $8.8 million from the Wisconsin Democrat Party.
WisPolitics reported: “Protasiewicz reported nearly $12.4 million raised between Feb. 7 and March 20, $10.6 million spent and almost $2.1 million cash on hand. She’s now detailed more than $14.5 million in contributions since the start of 2022. Kelly, the former justice, reported $2.2 million raised over the pre-election period, $2 million spent, and $395,098 in the bank. Since launching his campaign, he’s raised more than $2.7 million.”
“For both candidates, their overall fundraising totals include the late contributions they’ve detailed to the state since the pre-election reporting period closed last week. During the most recent period, the state Dem Party gave just over $8 million to Protasiewicz in monetary donations along with more than $800,000 in in-kind donations for expenses such as polls, online ads, and mail. Protasiewicz then plowed a good chunk of that money into TV, reporting $8.3 million in expenditures on TV ads during the six-week period,” the outlet added.
What’s more, the election has a national significance which is evidenced by the fact that, of the $3.3 million the Democrat candidate has raised, more than $2 million came from donors who are not residents of Wisconsin.
It came from around 17,000 donors which averaged around $119 per donation to the candidate.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Election on April 4th. pic.twitter.com/DVj7B1Xu7o
— 🇺🇸BellaLovesUSA🍊🇺🇸 (@Bellamari8mazz) March 29, 2023
.@JoeBiden and the left oppose Israel allowing its legislature to choose Supreme Court judges, but Soros and the Democrats are spending millions to BUY an ELECTION for SUPREME COURT justice in Wisconsin. https://t.co/mZdi3DovSb
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) March 29, 2023
Post, RT, and share the information below. The most important election is next week, April 4th. Soros is funneling millions to the radical democrat candidate.
People in Wisconsin need to pack cars, and vote, to ensure Justice Daniel Kelly wins the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat.
— Kambree (@KamVTV) March 28, 2023
“She reported 30 donors who gave her the maximum contribution of $20,000. Of those, 27 live outside Wisconsin. The three in-state max donors included former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig,” WisPolitics said.
“Other notable donations include $5,000 each from former Dem guv candidate Mary Burke and former Wisconsin first lady Jessica Doyle,” it said.
If the Democrat candidate wins it could be an end to Republican dominance in the state as it would effectively give Democrats a majority on the state Supreme Court which would give the Party the ability to redraw state maps to limit Republican Party’s power.
Politico reported:
Most immediately, the court will likely decide the fate of abortion rights in Wisconsin; that and crime have been the focus of much of the debate surrounding the race. But there’s another hugely consequential matter the court could take up: a challenge to the state’s congressional district and legislative lines. And an adverse ruling for Republicans would pose a direct threat to the delegation’s GOP-heavy makeup.
Currently, Republicans have a near-ironclad hold on the state legislature, a fact that has hamstrung Democratic Gov. Tony Evers throughout his two terms. The GOP is a few seats shy of a supermajority in the state Assembly, and a special election for a red-leaning state Senate seat on Tuesday will determine if the GOP hits the two-thirds mark in the state Senate again.
The state’s congressional delegation, meanwhile, is 6-2 Republican — four safe Republican seats, two deep blue Democratic districts, and a pair of red-leaning but potentially competitive districts that the GOP carried in the midterms.
But Protasiewicz has faced criticism for suspending the sentence of a convicted domestic abuser who then murdered two people after she suspended his sentence, Fox News reported.
Matthew J. Neumann was sentenced to 72 years in prison after murdering two of his employees after the Democrat candidate suspended his sentence, which she did even with his extensive criminal history.
“Every single case is unique,” the candidate said. “Integrity is one of my hallmarks. Absolute integrity. I looked at what I looked at in each one of those unique cases and made a decision that I thought was appropriate.”
“All I have heard is a sketch of a handful of cases that they thought they could use against me,” the Democrat said.
But Kelly said that the cases he highlighted are “representative” of Protasiewicz having “weak-on-crime sentencing.”
“It’s the reasoning that goes behind those sentences that’s problematic,” the Republican candidate said.
“There’s no way that COVID provides a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for a man who raped a woman,” he said.
