The Associated Press has called the Wisconsin State Supreme Court race for Janet Protasiewicz!
People donated and worked their butts off to change the balance of our State Supreme Court away from the 15 year extreme RW majority to a new liberal majority. We’re looking forward to abortion rights and undoing a whole lot of Scott Walker horror including the extreme gerrymandering that has kept Republicans in the majority despite the majority of votes being for Democrats in the state.
Happy dancing here!
Also watching a State Senate race where the GOP might lose their supermajority. It’s still dicey there. Jodi Habush Sinykin has a tiny lead in a generally Republican district (Wis SD 8) where she’s running to replace retiring Republican Alberta Darling. This is going to be a squeaker.
Stay tuned.
Update 9:30 PM Central Time:
Dan Kelly is giving his “concession” speech where he is doing nothing but trashing his opponent, Janet Protasiewicz. What an asshole.
“I wish I could concede to a worthy opponent, but I can’t”
"I wish in a circumstance like this I would be ale to concede to a worthy opponent. But I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede," Kelly told supporters at a campaign event in Green Lake, calling Protasiewicz a "serial liar." "I wish Wisconsin the best of luck, because I think it’s going to need it."
He called Protasiewicz's campaign "dishonorable and despicable," and said he was concerned for the future of the state.
"She's demeaned the judiciary with her behavior ," he said, referring to Protasiewicz's partisan appeals to voters on the issues of abortion and redistricting. "This is the future we have to look forward to in Wisconsin."
Douchebag.
Sara Geenen elected to the Wisconsin State Court of Appeals beating the incumbent by a large margin. Good news for our side, too.
Still watching State Senate District #8.
Update 3:
Closing it out for tonight with the State Senate race still uncalled and Jodi Habush Sinykin about 500 votes behind with 96% counted. It’s a thin thread, but I’m hoping for better news in the morning.
A big thank you to all the Kossacks who donated funds and/or time phone banking or texting for the big win tonight.
Update 4 — April 5 9:00 AM Central:
Sad news for State Senate District 8. Jodi Habush Sinykin has lost her race to RW extremist Dan Knodl by about 1%.
It doesn’t qualify for a recount due to the 2012 recount law put in place by former Governor Scott Walker and his band of not-so-merry Republicans. They changed it after a progressive candidate requested a recount after a close election (the one where a "bag of uncounted ballots" was "discovered" in Waukesha County 2 days after the election was called for a progressive candidate and flipped the results). It now takes a margin of 1/2 % or less to quality,
Fun fact: Due to his new recount law, Scott Walker wasn't allowed to ask for a recount in 2018 when he lost his re-election by 1% (the original margin required).
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Thanks once again for tuning in and a big thanks from Wisconsin to all those Kossacks who donated, wrote postcards, joined remote phone and text banks and sent positive vibes to us. It made a big difference.