TAYLOR MADE
A win by the liberal justice in tonight's key Wisconsin Supreme Court race will cap a remarkable comeback for Democrats in the state ...
Dropping in here real quick to tip you to an important Supreme Court race in Wisconsin today.
If the Democratic-backed Chris Taylor (pictured above) can prevail over the Republican-backed Maria Lazar, it will complete a remarkable turnaround on the state’s supreme court that has long been dominated by conservatives in the Badger State.
Liberals took control of the Court three Aprils ago, 4-3, when Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz walloped former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. Much of the reporting had it that liberals hadn’t run the court in the 15 years before that, but longtime political wonks in the state I speak with will tell you that the court was pretty well split in 2011, and leaned to the Right for many decades before that.
And if you need a reminder of how badly polluted the Republican Party has become since the odious Donald Trump came along, spend a few minutes with this unhinged “concession speech” that Kelly gave after losing by 11 points in a state that generally produces razor-thin results.
Like Trump, Kelly is a terrible, terrible person, who should only be allowed out of his house between dusk and dawn so as few people as possible can cross his miserable path.
He gives sore losers a good name.
A victory by Taylor tonight, who is a Dane County Circuit Court Judge, would give liberals a solid 5-2 lead on the court, and guarantee a majority in that chamber into the 2030s, and after the crucial 2030 census which will set maps for both the state legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives.
A liberal Supreme Court would safeguard the state’s election from the felonious Trump and his GOP, ensure fair, and hopefully even fairer, political maps are in place, and preserve women’s rights, among other wildly important things.
On a personal level, it feels very odd watching this election from afar after having spent the past 15 years in the state’s capital of Madison, where I knocked on doors, met candidates, marched, rallied, and made a general nuisance of myself while targeting my printed words at the beastly Republicans in the state like the reprehensible Kelly and Sen. Ron Johnson.
Things are plenty sporty in my new home of North Carolina, but a chunk of my heart will always be in Wisconsin, and the Democratic powerhouse of Dane County, which I believe is the Capital of Democracy in the United States of America.
Democrats turn out at unheard of levels in Dane, and almost single-handedly keep the party competitive in the state. In the 2024 presidential election, turnout in Dane was an astonishing 91%, after an 89% showing in 2020.
In both cases, the Democratic presidential candidates, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, garnered approximately 75% of the vote in the county.
While this election has been far quieter than last year’s Supreme Court race in which Judge Susan Crawford smashed the Elon Musk-endorsed candidate, Brad Schimel, by 10 pts., there’s still a helluva lot on the line.
Musk has been nowhere to be seen in Wisconsin this year, nor has his fat, orange whipping boy, Trump, because neither seems much interested in being embarrassed again.
Polls close at 8 p.m. CST, and I am boldly predicting a Taylor victory, with this plea to my many Wisconsin readers, and their Wisconsin contacts: VOTE. And wherever you are, if you know anybody in Wisconsin please give them a polite reminder to hit the polls if they haven’t already.
Many thanks to all of you who have worked so damn hard up there. You know who you are, and I have a cold one (or two) chilling in the fridge to toast you later on.
For now: Forward.
(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.)
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-Earl
First thing I thought when I saw you were writing about a Wisconsin election is that this guy left a piece of his heart in Wisconsin. And no wonder, you were so engaged in participating in the process there. And here you are from out of state, doing what you can to participate! I have no personal connections in Wisconsin, but am sincerely interested in seeing us take as many seats, at as many levels, in as many places as possible. I'll be rooting for your preferred candidate, we need every stronghold we can get!!!
This Wisconsinite just voted!