Patrick Marley and Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Republicans are considering using their lame-duck session to help keep a conservative on the state Supreme Court and give GOP legislators greater control of two state boards.

The move could cost taxpayers millions of dollars and comes as part of an effort to limit the power of Democrat Tony Evers before he is sworn in as governor in January.

Outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday he was on board with much of what Republican legislative leaders are discussing.

Republicans for a year have been concerned about the 2020 state Supreme Court race because it will be held alongside Wisconsin's presidential primary — when Democratic turnout is expected to far outpace Republican turnout because Democrats will be deciding who in their party will challenge President Donald Trump.

That turnout imbalance could spell trouble for Justice Daniel Kelly, whom Walker appointed to the high court in 2016.

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Legislative leaders have been discussing moving the April 2020 primary, possibly to March of that year. No decisions have been made on whether to advance the plan, according to four Republicans familiar with the discussions.

Walker open to moving election

Walker, a former Milwaukee County executive, told reporters he was open to changing the date of the presidential primary.

“I always thought it was odd that those of us who were in nonpartisan office were on the ballot the same time as there were partisan elections," Walker said at his first news conference since losing last week's election. "It just seemed a disconnect to that.”

Mandela Barnes, the Democrat who will become lieutenant governor in January, said in a message on Twitter that Republicans were "making up the rules as they go."

“I remember a time when it was just the goal posts, but now they want to move the whole field," Barnes tweeted.

Kelly and aides to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) did not respond to questions about the plan.

Extra taxpayer expense

Moving the presidential primary would tack on costs for taxpayers. Clerks would need to hold three elections that spring — a February primary for Supreme Court and local elections, an April general election for those races and the presidential primary.

About $6.8 million was spent on the April 2016 election, when Wisconsin voters elected Rebecca Bradley to the state Supreme Court and supported Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.

The cost of an additional election in 2020 could be similar if lawmakers chose to separate the spring state election from the presidential primary. Walker said he would consider that factor in deciding whether to move the presidential primary.

Analiese Eicher, program director for the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, noted Republicans fought plans to hold special elections this year and complained about the cost of past recall elections.

"The only consistent thing about this gang is their unwillingness to respect voters and the choices they make," she said in a statement.

In the 2016 election, turnout was high for both sides because neither party had yet settled on a presidential nominee. Walker didn't seek at the time to decouple the presidential primary and the Supreme Court election.

Asked why he didn't try to change it then, Walker said, "Unless you’ve got a time machine, I can’t go back."

Democrats cry foul

Democrats said the election plan showed Republicans were trying to seize any power they could before the governor's office leaves their hands.

“Republicans are desperate to cling to power,” Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said. “The people of Wisconsin said loud and clear last week that we want a change from this petty, divisive partisanship, and Governor-elect Evers believes Republicans should stop any and all attempts to override the will of the people and instead focus on solving the problems of this state.”

Moving up the presidential primary could affect how the political parties count Wisconsin's delegates for their national conventions. Wisconsin Republicans said they believed they could persuade the Republican National Committee not to dilute the power of the state's delegates.

GOP lawmakers are also considering adding more legislative appointees to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board and the state Building Commission, according to GOP sources.

"Those are all things we’re open to," Walker told reporters.

Such changes would ensure the Republicans have a greater say in the work of those bodies.

The Building Commission oversees the construction and maintenance of state buildings and other facilities. The economic development corporation is responsible for attracting businesses to the state.

Walker said it makes sense for Republicans to want more power on the economic development board because Evers talked about dissolving it during the campaign.

RELATED:Tony Evers plans to dissolve Scott Walker's WEDC, backs off idea of having no state jobs agency

Possible extraordinary legislative session

Vos and Fitzgerald have said they are considering calling themselves into what's known as extraordinary session before Evers is sworn in to change the process for approving state rules to give lawmakers more power.

Those rules are used to implement state laws and include more detail than the laws themselves.

In the extraordinary session, lawmakers also want to put certain rules that are already in place — such as those covering the state's voter ID law — into state statute, Vos and Fitzgerald have said.

That would make it impossible for Evers to change those rules without permission from the Legislature. Walker spoke positively of such a change Thursday.

Walker compared the moves Republicans are now making to an effort by Democrats in 2010 to approve labor contracts for state employees just before Walker was sworn in as governor. That attempt failed when two Democratic senators declined to go along with the plan.

"Those are things that are not going to come anywhere close to those employee contracts," Walker said of the latest effort.

Senate Republicans also hope to confirm some Walker appointees before Walker leaves office so Evers cannot dump them when he is sworn in.