Wisconsin Democrats wanted to delay the state’s primary last week due to health concerns. The idea of having thousands of people together in a pandemic seemed like a really terrible idea. And, Democrats wanted to extend the mail-in deadline, but the GOP was having none of it and went to court. Ultimately, the Democrats lost the battle in Donald Trump’s Supreme Court, but perhaps not the war.
When the votes were counted, a Democrat ousted a Republican in a huge upset for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Why is this important?
Liberal Democrat Jill Karofsky defeated Trump-supported Justice Daniel Kelly. The New York Times writes:
“The decisive Democratic win offered a signal that the party, highly energized and mobilized heading into 2020, could organize and execute a winning get-out-the-vote program against strident Republican efforts to limit voter turnout in a narrowly divided state widely expected to be crucial in this fall’s presidential election.
“Indeed, senior officials in both parties view Wisconsin as a potential tipping point in a general election between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
“Ms. Karofsky’s victory suggests Democrats have built a superior turnout operation in a state where elections are decided on the margins.“
The race took on added significance because of a pending decision state Supreme Court decision on whether to purge more than 200,000 people from Wisconsin’s voter rolls.
Ben Wickler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party called it “a victory for justice and democracy in an election that should never have taken place in person.”
