# Republicans lose the state supreme court election in Wisconsin **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739 "2020-04-14T02:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/21 "2020-04-14T21:16:08Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > They didn’t want to hold the election during the pandemic, but they were overruled by the Democrat governor. > > Get with the (current) narrative. We have always been at war with Eastasia … ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/22 "2020-04-14T22:04:59Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Or, they’ll attempt to get these election results tossed as invalid, based on all the irregularities caused by COVID-19. (Never mind that they themselves fought to protect those irregularities.) Perhaps but Karofsky won by 10% over Kelly putting it just beyond the margin of dispute. Besides, the big enchilada is the November election so they may just let the Democrats have their little prize and get their dirty game together for that one. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/23 "2020-04-15T04:27:08Z")
I don’t think it’s a good thing at all. But i saw it coming. However, not for the reasons already listed on this thread. Karofsky ran a better campaign, at least in the propaganda department. She lead voters to believe corruption was a huge problem in our state while it actually isn’t. She presented herself in a light that won’t be visible when she attempts to legislate from the bench. She appears to have outspent Kelly, at least in my area of the state. Meanwhile Kelly ran dismal ads attacking his opponent on only 2 scant past rulings she made and not on future issues or what’s at stake with the direction of the court. One particular commercial starring his daughter made him come across as a goof rather than a serious jurist. I agree that it’s a double edge sword when it comes to electing or appointing State Supreme court Justices. What percentage of the electorate have more than a vague idea of what is even in their states constitution or what the role of the State Supreme Court even is? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/24 "2020-04-15T05:05:33Z")
Even the people who are, rightly, joyously celebrating this win are mostly underrating how sensationally important and just flat-out wonderful it is. I’m gobsmacked, after being borderline despondent about Wisconsin last week. It’s a glorious victory, well earned, and an extremely positive sign for November. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/25 "2020-04-15T12:52:18Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Let’s try Heinlein’s ultra-libertarian fantasy from MOON IS A HARD MISTRESS. No “state” exists. Parties to a dispute hire a judge based on reputation and price. The law in a case is whatever the judge says it is and applies nowhere else. If parties disagree with a verdict they can hire another judge; no refunds. If one party refuses judgement, toss-em out the airlock. That’ll minimize frivolous suits and charges. Yeah, because there’s no way in a system like that that judges would favor rich people and corporations who will keep paying them lots of money for verdicts favorable to the rich people. Also the death penalty for being unable to pay a judgement seems a bit on the unreasonable side. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/26 "2020-04-15T13:12:23Z")
Hush! There’s no room for that talk in Heinlein’s universe! If you’re not Lazarus Long it’s merely your job to stand there in your kilt, basking in his greatness. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/27 "2020-04-15T14:07:42Z")
The GOP is just stupid. They essentially dared liberals and independents to show up to the polls. Deadly virus or no, people aren’t known for turning down a dare. Especially when the national media limelight is on them. And especially when the dare is coming from an orange turd the likes of which we’ve never seen. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/28 "2020-04-15T14:43:58Z")
Great victory to be sure, but I don’t want to overstate it. Could it be that without a contested presidential race, Republicans had less reason to show up than Democrats? Perhaps your average MAGAbot isn’t that interested in state-level Supreme Court seats. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/29 "2020-04-15T16:36:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Great victory to be sure, but I don’t want to overstate it. Could it be that without a contested presidential race, Republicans had less reason to show up than Democrats? Perhaps your average MAGAbot isn’t that interested in state-level Supreme Court seats. Don’t know if its been validated, but since the base of hte GOP are older people supposedly they were more prone to staying home since the virus is much harder for elderly people. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/30 "2020-04-16T00:19:50Z")
I pointed out this consequence elsewhere online, that trying to keep people from voting could energize their opposition, as more people would think it was worth the risk to vote if they oppose the current system than would if they were okay with it. It’s always a thin knife edge when you try things like this, and the fact that (as pkbites said) the opposition was already pretty energized made this more likely to backfire than most. Those who wish to control the electorate do better when things are calm. I’m glad that I was right. Even if I were a Republican, I would not want my party to be the party that pulls this shit. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/31 "2020-04-17T22:17:15Z")
I think that that is why Bernie didn’t officially withdraw until the next day. And i praise him for that. But I wouldn’t overstate the situation. The Republicans had no primary and therefore for most of them there was no reason to vote. If you are going to have elected judges you shouldn’t hold the election in conjunction with a primary. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/32 "2020-04-21T19:46:49Z")
[Voting by Mail in Wisconsin Helped a Liberal Candidate, Upending Old Theories A large shift from in-person to mail voting, as happened in the state because of the coronavirus, had been thought to create little advantage for either party. A Times analysis found otherwise]([https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/us/politics/wisconsin-mail-voting.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/us/politics/wisconsin-mail-voting.html)) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739/33 "2020-04-21T20:41:46Z")
“MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Officials have identified seven people who appear to have contracted the coronavirus through activities related to the April 7 election in Wisconsin. Shawn Benjamin, a spokesman for the Milwaukee health department, said in an email to The Associated Press that his agency has confirmed the infections. Commissioner of Health Jeanette Kowalik said six of the cases involve Milwaukee voters and one is a Milwaukee poll worker, the Journal Sentinel reported.” [https://abc7chicago.com/health/officials-link-7-wisconsin-virus-cases-to-in-person-voting/6119737/](https://abc7chicago.com/health/officials-link-7-wisconsin-virus-cases-to-in-person-voting/6119737/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-lose-the-state-supreme-court-election-in-wisconsin/851739.md?page=1)