Wisconsin is set to be the swingiest of swing states in 2020. But if you can't wait that long, Tuesday is providing a sneak preview.
State court elections, especially in Wisconsin, don't usually get a lot of national attention. But all eyes are on Tuesday's election for state Supreme Court, which, despite being a supposedly nonpartisan position, has featured harsh debates between its GOP- and Democratic-backed contenders, NBC News reports.
Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn are both appeals judges running for a vacated spot on Wisconsin's Supreme Court, and both have pledged to keep partisanship off the bench. Yet Neubauer has used their debates to call out Hagedorn for his anti-LGBTQ blog posts, while Hagedorn has decried Neubauer for her apparent liberal partiality, Milwaukee public radio station WUWM reports. Partisan groups have even poured millions of dollars into ad buys for their preferred candidates, NBC News notes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Despite electing a Republican governor in 2010, Wisconsin's presidential picks were reliably blue until President Trump's 2016 victory. But again in 2018, the state narrowly ousted Scott Walker in favor of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, easily re-elected Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and safely put a Democratic-backed candidate on the state Supreme Court. Tuesday's election should provide yet another indicator of whether that blue resurgence will last.
Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney did tell Wisconsin Public Radio that spring elections usually attract just "20 to 25 percent of the voting age population." That's far less than the 59 percent turnout Wisconsin saw in the 2018 midterms. But with a 10-year Supreme Court term on the line, Magney suggested anything is possible.
-
Critics’ choice: Watering holes for gourmandsFeature An endless selection of Mexican spirits, a Dublin-inspired bar, and an upscale Baltimore pub
-
Argentinian beef is at the center of American farmers’ woesThe Explainer ‘It feels like a slap in the face to rural America,’ said one farmer
-
‘Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
