The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race was the most expensive state judicial election in U.S. history. Former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz easily defeated former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in the April 4 election. Protasiewicz, a judicial liberal, drew support from liberal and Democratic contributors. Kelly, a judicial conservative, drew his support from conservative and Republican groups and contributors.
According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, an organization that tracks money in Wisconsin politics, here is the spending breakdown for the top five state Supreme Court elections:
Spending in the 2023 race easily shatters the $10 million spent in the 2020 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, the previous record in the Badger State. It also breaks the previous national record of $15 million spent on an Illinois Supreme Court race in 2004. As noted by Douglas Keith, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice who closely follows state court elections: “It’s a sign of what we should expect to see in the future in other state Supreme Court elections in other states provided that for some reason a particular seat is important.”
The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election turned a court with a 4-3 conservative majority to a 4-3 liberal majority after 15 years. It was a priority election for both liberals and conservatives not just in Wisconsin, but nationally as well.
Total candidate and special interest group spending in the 2023 race was five times higher than the previous record of $10 million spent in the 2020 Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Given the staggering spending increase in 2023 over 2020, what might this mean for future Wisconsin Supreme Court elections? Likely more of the same.
Next six Wisconsin Supreme Court elections
The next six Wisconsin Supreme Court elections will start in April 2025 and run one seat per year through April 2030. How much money will each Supreme Court election spend if the election stakes remain at fever pitch over six straight years? Is the current national spending record for this year’s Wisconsin election, $50 million, the starting point? Stay tuned.