Liberal judge projected to win Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, ending conservative majority

Liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz is projected to win her bid for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a victory that will flip the bench's majority from conservative to liberal.

The Associated Press projected her as the winner with 57% of the vote to conservative Daniel Kelly's 43% with 61% of the vote reporting.

Wisconsin voters were tasked with selecting a replacement replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack.

Roggensack is generally regarded as part of the court's current 4-3 conservative majority, meaning Protaseiwciz's win could have significant ramifications in a state grappling with its abortion laws after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson decision last year.

Though the judiciary elections are officially non-partisan, candidates Daniel Kelly and Janet Protasiewicz are largely regarded as conservative and liberal, respectively.

Kelly previously served as a state Supreme Court justice after then-Gov. Scott Walker, R, appointed him in 2016, after which he lost re-election. Protasiewicz, meanwhile, has served as a justice for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court since 2014.

The pair emerged as the top two finishers in a February primary contest, that also included Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow and Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell.

Since then, Protasiewicz's record of granting lenient sentences has come under scrutiny. Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming told the "Just the News, No Noise" television show in March that Protasiewicz was "a soft-on-crime judge in cases that are shocking to the conscience."

She "was a soft-on-crime assistant district attorney … under sitting Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, the one who allowed, essentially, the Waukesha parade killer to go out and be on the streets," he added.

Abortion ranks as a key issue in the race, with a liberal majority on the court positioned to protect access to the procedure whereas a conservative one would likely uphold restrictions.

Voters will also decide on a state constitutional amendment that would grant judges greater discretion in imposing and setting cash bail for individuals accused of violent crimes.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.