Judicial campaigning

A normally humdrum election in April could have big implications for pro-life law in Wisconsin. Voters will elect a candidate to fill a vacant state Supreme Court seat, possibly shifting the court’s political tilt. The seven-seat bench has remained in a conservative majority for 14 years, with four conservative justices currently, but the retirement of one of its members could give abortion advocates an opening to flip the balance.

Although judicial elections in Wisconsin are technically nonpartisan, all of the candidates vying in the Feb. 21 primary have included in their campaigns veiled references to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade. The two conservative candidates have promised to hold to judicial conservatism and not legislate from the bench. The two liberals say constitutional rights are under attack.

Current state law protects unborn babies at every stage, with an exception if the mother’s life is at risk. The law originated in 1849 but was suspended while Roe was in effect. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and his attorney general, both Democrats, have sued to overturn the law, and a liberal Supreme Court majority would likely do so.

The judicial election is quickly becoming the most expensive in Wisconsin history. Liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz has used considerable funds from Democratic donors to carpet the state with pro-abortion ads. Other candidates say it is unwise to state how they would rule on pending cases.

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Mr. Ricketts goes to Washington

Former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts may have given up his term-limited position in January, but he wasn’t ready to leave public service just yet. One week after fellow Republican Jim Pillen succeeded him, Pillen tapped Ricketts to head to the U.S. Senate, replacing former Sen. Ben Sasse, who resigned in January to become the president of the University of Florida.

Ricketts is part owner of the Chicago Cubs. As governor, he championed pro-life measures, and in 2021 he ordered state agencies not to comply with the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate. But the Legislature often overrode his vetoes, such as when it repealed the death penalty in 2015.

In the Senate, he promises to “hold Washington, D.C., accountable for the waste and the fraud and make sure that we’re running government more like a business, just like we’ve done here in Nebraska.” —C.L.