Hamilton Political Tidbits – March 17, 2023

With less than three weeks left until the April 4 election, the race for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has already broken national spending records. Former Justice Daniel Kelly, a judicial conservative, and Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a judicial liberal, were the top two finishers in a four-way primary.

Currently, judicial conservatives enjoy a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s elected supreme court. Justice Patience Roggensack, a judicial conservative, is retiring at the end of her term on July 31, leaving an open seat which will decide the ideological balance of the court for several years. Because of this, the race is hotly contested, attracting a significant amount of attention.

According to one report, candidates and outside groups have spent $22.4 million on television advertising alone over the course of the race, with at least $13.2 million spent since the February 21 primary. The previous record for political spending in a state judicial race, $15.2 million, was set in a 2004 supreme court race in Illinois.

Also on April 4, Republican Rep. Dan Knodl will face Democratic candidate Jodi Habush Sinykin in a special election for the 8th Senate District. The seat is currently vacant after Sen. Alberta Darling retired in December in the middle of her eighth term.

For more information about the upcoming elections, see the following articles:

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has released its plain-language summary of Gov. Evers’ executive budget. Meanwhile, the Joint Finance Committee has invited four cabinet secretaries from the Evers Administration to testify and answer questions from the committee about their agency’s budget.

The 2023-24 legislative session has been off to a relatively slow start, with the Assembly and Senate each holding only one day of floor votes each in January and none in February. The Assembly voted earlier this week and each house is expected to meet one day next week.

In a January interview, Senate Majority Leader LeMahieu said that the Senate would work to hold confirmation hearings on department secretaries and other agency heads appointed by Gov. Evers. During Gov. Evers’ first term, the Senate chose not to take confirmation votes on about 185 of the governor’s appointments, including many cabinet positions.

Gov. Evers released his 2023-25 capital budget recommendations on February 28. The capital budget includes plans for purchasing, constructing, maintaining, and disposing of state-owned buildings and other facilities, including University of Wisconsin System properties.

The Alliance of Health Insurers recently urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reconsider deep cuts to the Medicare Advantage program which CMS had proposed. If the cuts take effect, AHI expressed concern that over 608,000 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Wisconsin alone will experience major premium increases and lose many important services.

The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council (WCJC) this week released its 2023 Guide to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Judicial Evaluation. This Judicial Evaluation reviews the most important decisions issued by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that affect the Wisconsin business community. The 2023 Judicial Evaluation covers the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 terms of the court.

The Judicial Evaluation scores the justices on the percentage of reviewed cases in which their positions aligned with WCJC’s positions. Based on a comprehensive review of Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions since 2009, Justice Rebecca Bradley scored the highest at 82 percent. Chief Justice Annette Ziegler scored 81 percent. Justice Patience Roggensack scored 80 percent. New to the court in 2019, Justice Brian Hagedorn scored 67 percent. New to the court in 2020, Justice Jill Karofsky scored 55 percent. Justice Rebecca Dallet scored 56 percent and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley scored 33 percent. Former Justice Daniel Kelly scored 76 percent.

It has been a busy month at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Associations that have recently held advocacy days include the Badger State Sheriffs' Association and Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association, Destinations Wisconsin, Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association, and Wisconsin Bike Fed.