Deceitful, Dishonorable, Despicable.

Welcome to Wisconsin!

Apr 5, 2023

1. Wisconsin voters on Tuesday gave control of the state’s highest court to liberals for the first time in 15 years, instantly reshaping politics in the Badger State by putting the state laws most celebrated by conservatives at risk of being overturned — including a 19th Century-era ban on abortions. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in a race that served as a referendum on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, shattering national spending records and attracting a level of political warfare unseen before in a state judicial race. The map below tells the story. (Source: jsonoline.com)

(Vote data and map via DDHQ)

2. Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly refused to call his opponent to concede, instead choosing to lash out against her in a concession speech to supporters. "I wish that in a circumstance like this, I would be able to concede to a worthy opponent," he said at an event held at the Heidel House Hotel in Green Lake. "But I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede." Kelly called Protasiewicz's campaign "deeply deceitful, dishonorable and despicable." (Source: jsonline.com)

3. With just over 500 votes separating Republican Dan Knodl from his opponent, Democratic attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin, Mr. Knodl declared victory in the special election for Wisconsin's 8th Senate District seat late last night. As of 11:54 p.m., 98% of the votes had been counted with Knodl getting 37,180, or 50.4%. Habush Sinykin received 36,647 votes, 49.6%. Votes in the Town of Lisbon were still unaccounted for. "Those numbers are in my favor in the Town of Lisbon, we're in good shape and we have a victory," Knodl said from his campaign party. Habush Sinykin's campaign said the race was still too close to call. “Still waiting for all results to come in, Jodi and her family have gone home for the night," a campaign spokesman said. (Source: jsonline.com)

4. The New York Times:

The (8th Senate) district has long been held by Republicans but is trending away from the party. Mr. Trump carried it by 12 percentage points in 2016 but by only 5 in 2020. The Democratic candidate, Jodi Habush Sinykin, is contesting it with a heavy emphasis on abortion rights.
If the Republican candidate, State Representative Dan Knodl, wins, his party will have a two-thirds supermajority in the State Senate, which would allow the G.O.P. to impeach and remove judges, statewide elected officials and appointees of Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat.
Mr. Knodl, in an interview with PBS Wisconsin, said the impeachment powers granted to State Senate Republicans with his election “certainly would be tested.”
Mr. Stroebel, the Republican state senator from Cedarburg, called impeaching Judge Protasiewicz over expected rulings on abortion and gerrymandering unlikely “but certainly not impossible.” (Source: nytimes.com)

5. Chicago elected Brandon Johnson in the mayoral runoff, a “progressive” who plans to raise taxes on major corporations to boost the city’s revenue. Johnson, the Cook County commissioner, beat rival Paul Vallas, a former head of Chicago Public Schools who was backed by financial executives and made crime the focus of his campaign, according to the Associated Press. Both are Democrats. “Chicago, tonight is just the beginning,” Johnson told a crowd of cheering supporters. “With our voices and our votes, we have ushered in a new chapter in the history of our city.” Johnson, 47, garnered support from the influential Chicago Teachers Union, and surprised many when he made it to the runoff, beating incumbent Lori Lightfoot — the first mayor of Chicago to lose a reelection bid since 1983. He appealed to voters in a largely “progressive” city and gained momentum by linking his opponent to the Republican party and to former President Trump. (Source: bloomberg.com)

6. Ballots were still being counted in Denver’s 2023 municipal election, but two candidates — Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough — appear poised to meet in a runoff contest for mayor. In unofficial results released late last night, Johnston was leading all candidates with 26,779 votes, about 24.7% of ballots tabulated so far. Brough was a close second with 24,095 votes, or 22.3%. Tailing those two were Lisa Calderón with 16,416 votes, or 15.2%, Andy Rougeot with 13,960 votes, or 12.9%, and Leslie Herod with 10,280 votes, or 9.5%. Those numbers point to an outcome that many observers already expected coming into municipal election day — a new mayor will not be named tonight, this week or even this month. One candidate needed to claim more than 50% of the vote to win the office outright. Instead, the top two vote-getters will move on to a runoff election which will be decided in a second round of voting that concludes on June 6. (Source: denverpost.com)

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