Abortion helped sink conservatives in pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court election

In the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Republicans had a bad defeat, which was attributed to their decision to support a 1849 abortion prohibition in an election that has huge policy consequences.

Instead, a liberal judge, known for being lenient on crime, won the technically non-partisan seat in the highest court of the state by promising to safeguard a woman’s right to choose.

The victory of Judge Janet Protasiewicz, who emphasized the importance of defending women’s reproductive rights, gives liberals the majority in determining the fate of abortion rights, partisan political maps, and possibly a say in the 2024 presidential election.

The election revealed that the trend seen in the 2022 midterm elections – where pro-abortion rights activists gained popularity – has only continued to gain momentum.

Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, believes that the Republicans’ focus on abortion was not beneficial to their campaign. He suggests that using the issue in the general election is a mistake since it is not popular, as data from previous elections demonstrated that crime ranked higher than abortion concerning issues that Wisconsin voters were most concerned about.

The result shows that “abortion is a bad issue” for Republicans to attack Democrats, said Bannon. If they fail to learn from this loss in Wisconsin, they will suffer the same fate next November.

One Republican strategist called abortion “the kryptonite” of his party, stressing that they needed to get on the same page or risk another defeat.

At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre commended Judge Protasiewicz’s win as proof that voters across the country are interested in protecting abortion rights. She further called out Florida, Nebraska, and North Carolina for attempting to pass “extreme abortion bills.”