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Liberals flipped the ideological makeup of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court on Tuesday. Janet Protasiewicz’s win in a high-stakes race for an open court seat means the new 4-3 majority is much more likely to strike down a controversial 19th century abortion ban there. Protasiewicz, a liberal judge from Milwaukee County, won her race, 56.9% to 43.1%, when the Associated Press called the race at 9:53 pm. She defeated conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. The court is technically nonpartisan, but now has a 4-3 liberal majority through at least 2025. (Montellaro, 4/4)

A pre-Civil War law criminalizes abortion even in cases of rape or incest and only allows it if the mother's life is in danger. Republican lawmakers tried to add exceptions in 2022, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers made clear he would veto any measure that upheld the overall ban. With a divided state government that puts the issue in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's hands. A ruling will likely be issued around a lawsuit brought by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul to block the law later this year. (Bailey, 4/4)

The contest, which featured over $40 million in spending, was the most expensive judicial election in American history. ... Judge Protasiewicz, 60, shattered long-held notions of how judicial candidates should conduct themselves by making her political priorities central to her campaign. She made explicit her support for abortion rights and called the maps, which gave Republicans near-supermajority control of the Legislature, “rigged” and “unfair.” (Epstein, 4/4)

While many candidates during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s had discernible ideological leanings, there was almost no relationship between electoral support for judicial candidates and presidential candidates of the corresponding political party. (Igielnik, 4/4)