Janet Protasiewicz Backed by Democrats Wins Crucial Swing Seat on Wisconsin Supreme Court

MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin voters elected Judge Janet Protasiewicz, who was backed by the Democratic Party, as the newest state Supreme Court justice after a contentious election for the critical swing seat, setting the stage for challenges to the state’s 1849 law banning most abortions and a potential redrawing of the state’s current electoral maps. The race was the most expensive such judicial contest in U.S. history, demonstrating how state courts have become the focus of increasingly partisan politics. Judge Protasiewicz currently serves on a lower court. Her opponent, Daniel Kelly, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Wisconsin Supreme…