Republican Wins Open Wisconsin State Senate Seat, Giving GOP Supermajority and Added Impeachment Power

The Republican Wisconsin state Rep. Dan Knodl won an open state senate seat in a special election on Tuesday, providing the Republican Party a supermajority in the state senate.

The election was held for Wisconsin’s 8th state senate district, which represents Milwaukee’s northern suburbs, with Knodl competing against Democrat attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin. The seat was left vacant after the retirement of Republican Alberta Darling in December of last year, who held the position until the 2022 election.

The Republicans held a 21-12 majority in the state senate before the 2022 election, one seat short of a supermajority. After winning one seat in the November 2022 election, Republicans only needed one more seat for a supermajority. Darling’s retirement delayed the fulfillment of the prospect. But, with Knodl’s win on Tuesday, the Republicans will soon be able to exercise supermajority powers in the state Senate.

Supermajority Powers

The Republican Party can override a gubernatorial veto in the state Senate with a supermajority. Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and State Assembly. However, the Assembly Republicans require two more seats to have a supermajority in that house.

The Senate supermajority implies that Republicans could theoretically convict the state government’s judges and executive branch officers in an impeachment proceeding, which includes Democrat Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. The Wisconsin Republican Party can now vote to impeach elected officials with a simple majority in the Assembly and convict those officials on the impeachment charges with a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

The Tuesday election also resulted in Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz winning her bid for the state Supreme Court, tipping the balance of the seven-member judicial panel towards the liberals. The Republican impeachment powers in the state legislature could allow them to impeach Protasiewicz. Nonetheless, Knodl stated that he is not interested in impeaching Evers, given their amicable working relationship. However, he intends to impeach Milwaukee judges for being too lenient on criminal defendants. Protasiewicz’s opponents criticized her for her leniency in crime cases during her campaign.

As one of her final appeals in the election, Habush Sinykin tweeted, “Don’t give the GOP the power to impeach. I’m asking for your vote today.”

“We are at a crossroads in Wisconsin,”