The New York Times reported on Oct. 12, “Robin Vos, the powerful Republican speaker of the State Assembly, said at a news conference in Madison that he would not seek to remove Justice Protasiewicz based on the argument he and fellow Republicans had been making for two months — that statements she made calling the maps ‘rigged’ during her campaign for office this year compelled impeachment if she refused to recuse herself from a case challenging them.”
Protasiewicz, elected overwhelmingly by 11 points in April to the swing seat in the state Supreme Court, refused to recuse herself from a redistricting case, a move Republicans previously insisted would trigger an impeachment drive.
The fate of the Republican plot might have been sealed after Vos convened a panel headed by former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice David Prosser to assess the matter, only to be told by Prosser that there was no basis for impeachment. Subsequent news reports indicated Vos lacked the Republican votes to pull off the stunt.
How did Democrats prevail in a state with a near-supermajority Republican legislature protected by extreme gerrymandering? Early polling suggested the impeachment threat was never popular. Democratic state party chair Ben Wikler told me that he and his team were able to build on the notion that “people hate partisan conflict for partisan conflict’s sake.”
While not declaring complete victory in the fight to avert a state constitutional crisis, he said in a phone interview that the state no longer faces a “short-circuiting of the judicial system. … Republicans really did react to public pressure.”
That pressure, unsurprisingly, was the result of Democrats’ massive effort to engage, educate and enlist the public in pushing back against what amounted to an effort to reverse the voters’ April pick of a progressive justice who threatens to upend the GOP grip on power and protect abortion rights.
When Vos started revving up his base to impeach Protasiewicz, Democrats initially felt somewhat “fatalistic,” Wikler acknowledged. After all, Republicans controlled both state legislative bodies by overwhelming margins. However, Wikler galvanized the party to raise $4 million, initiated a door-knocking and ad campaign, and focused media on the latest Republican effort to subvert an election.
“Republicans didn’t come to their senses about democracy,” Wikler said. “But they realized they didn’t have cover.” Once they recognized there might be an enormous price — and that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers could simply replace Protasiewicz with another progressive judge — they beat a retreat. “They walked the plank,” Wikler said, “and found themselves in shark-infested waters.”
He analogized the Democrats’ victory to the 2017 fight over the Affordable Care Act in Washington, when congressional Democrats beat back Republicans’ repeal effort, despite their overwhelming numbers.
But the Wisconsin mobilization would not have been possible without Wikler’s insistence on year-round organizing. After Protasiewicz’s April victory, the party didn’t reduced its staff or outreach efforts, he said. As a result, Democrats were prepared to wage the battle against impeachment.
In the state Supreme Court case challenging Republican-drawn maps, if the justices side with plaintiffs, every state senator and state assembly seat could be on the ballot, many running in brand-new districts without the advantage of incumbency. (Federal district lines remain unchallenged by Democrats, a wise strategic choice, since such litigation could wind up in the highly partisan U.S. Supreme Court.) A redistricting victory could create a slew of competitive seats that the state’s voters have not seen in decades.
In other democracy-related news out of Wisconsin, Republicans have abandoned their attempt to fire the state’s elections commission administrator, Meagan Wolfe. “Attorneys for the Legislature’s top Republicans told a judge … that a September vote to fire Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Megan Wolfe was ‘symbolic,’ and that Wolfe is ‘lawfully holding over’ in that position despite her appointment expiring July 1,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported on Oct. 16. That “contradicts what some of those lawmakers said publicly in recent months about their efforts to remove Wolfe from office.”
Just as Republicans realized impeaching a state Supreme Court justice would raise a storm of protest without a guarantee of success, they turned around on a dime, claiming that the vote to remove Wolfe was just “messaging.” Wikler pointed out that the GOP abruptly changed the topic, pushing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rejecting other gubernatorial appointees (something practically unheard of in the state).
Given Democrats’ success, Wikler has begun working furiously with state assembly and senate Democrats to raise money and recruit and train candidates for what could be a breakthrough election in 2024. Democrats “now have a real sense the sun is rising” on their political fortunes, he said.
Democrats hope their Wisconsin victories can be duplicated elsewhere. Wikler, with Michigan Democratic chair Lavora Barnes, has been sharing insights and strategy with other state party directors, eyeing possible gains in states such as North Carolina, Ohio and Arizona.
The Wisconsin lesson: Even in less than ideal conditions, defenders of the rule of law and democracy can organize, instill hope, drive public opinion and defeat authoritarian efforts to protect incumbents.
Authoritarians depend on complacency and defeatism; democracy’s survival depends on optimism and talented leadership. Wisconsin Democrats certainly have plenty of both.
