The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is leading a coalition that promises to spend at least $4 million hoping to shame Republicans into not impeaching State Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz.
The former Milwaukee Circuit Judge was elected to the state court in April, with a campaign that mainly emphasized her support for abortion rights. But Protasiewicz also criticized Republican-drawn legislative district maps as "rigged." With liberal groups now asking State Justices to rule on lawsuits seeking to overturn those maps, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Racine County) wants Protasiewicz to recuse herself from those cases. If no recusal, Vos says he's looking into the potential of the Republican controlled legislature impeaching the recently-sworn in justice and removing her from office.
Democratic Party Chairperson Ben Wikler told reporters Tuesday night that a statewide outreach campaign will try to warn voters of any effort against Protasiewicz, and convince GOP lawmakers into not backing Vos.
"That an attempt to impeach Janet Protasiewicz would be an absolute political, moral, and constitutional disaster. The greatest mistake they could make that could backfire on Republicans," Wikler said.
The GOP has stuck together on some very controversial moves in Wisconsin, including voting for the Act 10 law in 2011 that harmed many public sector unions. But Wikler says a national campaign several years ago convinced Congressional Republicans not to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) released the following statement regarding the coordinated attack from the Democrat party.
“All this does is prove that Justice Protasiewicz and the Democrat Party are one and the same. The timing of yesterday’s order from Justice Protasiewicz and the Democrat Party’s immediate press conference announcing $4 million dollars in attack ads supporting Justice Protasiewicz’s involvement is further indication of coordination between the two. We fully expect Justice Protasiewicz will recuse herself from handling a case where she has pre-decided the outcome and the Democrat party is fully involved.”
