WISCONSIN, USA — The nation is keeping a close eye on Wisconsin this week.
A liberal candidate, Judge Janet Protasiewicz, has won a seat on the state supreme court, flipping the majority of the court for the first time in 15 years.
According to the Associated Press, the race between Protasiewicz and Dan Kelly brought in more than $42 million in political advertising.
That number is nearly three times higher than the previous national record of $15 million, which was set during a supreme court race in Illinois in 2004.
"It wasn't just local money in Wisconsin. This money was coming in nationally,” Hamline University political professor David Schultz says.
“The race had a lot of national interest on both sides.”
Why? Well, Schultz says the Wisconsin Supreme Court will likely debate the state's abortion ban in the near future and the Democrats taking control could potentially make abortions legal in Wisconsin if they overturn that rule.
Minnesota is currently one of the few states in the Midwest that has clear protections and provisions for women seeking reproductive care.
Schultz says Wisconsin could soon follow Minnesota's lead in the coming years depending on how judges interpret state law.
Schultz added the court also has the ability to interpret how much power the governor’s office should have to make decisions.
The court could also tackle redistricting and redraw the lines in a way that could also shift power over to the Democrats.
"That could happen at a time when the control of Congress is razor thin,” Schultz says.
"If the democrats could potentially pick up even if just one seat in Wisconsin, that could affect the balance of power in the U.S House of Representatives."
Meanwhile, republican Dan Knodl won a seat in the Wisconsin senate giving Republicans a “supermajority.”
There are already discussions online about how that “supermajority” could be used to impeach or remove Judge Janet Protasiewicz from office.
Schultz says the potential is there, it's a bit of a long shot, but it's not impossible.
Wisconsin Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has already told reporters in Milwaukee that he is not interested in impeaching Protasiewicz by using this new “supermajority.”
He says for impeachment proceedings to happen there would need to be a serious crime or serious misconduct and impeachment should not be used as a tool to overturn elections.
Schultz says this supreme court race in Wisconsin also continues a concerning trend of judicial races turning political.
"We shouldn’t be having a discussion about Republican versus Democratic judges. We should be saying the judiciary is neutral, but clearly, unfortunately, judicial races have become politicized. They have become polarized and I'm concerned we could see more of that in the years ahead."
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