Wisconsin Supreme Court race will pit Daniel Kelly against Jill Karofsky

MADISON - State Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly will face Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky in the April election for a 10-year term on Wisconsin's highest court, voters decided Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the race for Kelly and Karofsky shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday's primary results marked the end of the campaign of Ed Fallone, a Marquette University law professor who made an unsuccessful bid for the Supreme Court in 2013.

The race now pits a conservative against a liberal in a one-on-one contest. If Kelly wins the April 7 election, conservatives will keep their 5-2 majority. If Karofsky wins, the conservative majority will shrink to 4-3.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Kelly had 50% of the votes, Karofsky had about 37% and Fallone had about 13% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

"I think the results tonight demonstrate that the people of Wisconsin really do want a justice on the court who is just going to apply the law, set aside the personal politics, personal preferences, and just be faithful to the constitutional text, the statutory text," Kelly said in an interview.

He said he would take the same approach in the general election as he had in the primary. Karofsky said the same.

"I think we're going to keep this strategy," she said in an interview. "It was evident tonight that that strategy worked and that focusing on getting the court back on track and focusing on the things that I'm bringing to this race and I'm going to bring to the Supreme Court was a message that resonated with people all around the state of Wisconsin."

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In some ways, Kelly and Karofsky have been treating the campaign as a two-person race for weeks.

Kelly criticized Karofsky for sentencing Daniel Lieske for homicide to life in prison with the possibility of being released on extended supervision in 20 years — the lightest possible sentence she could have given. Karofsky said she handled the sentencing properly and Kelly shouldn't be talking about a case that could get to the Supreme Court.

She accused Kelly of appearing corrupt, arguing he consistently rules in favor of conservative causes. Kelly called that claim baseless and not befitting of a judge, saying he spells out his reasoning in his decisions with "rigorous logic."

With the primary over, voters can expect more direct attacks from the two candidates.

Kelly has had a large fundraising advantage in the race. Since the race began, he has raised nearly $988,000, Karofsky about $414,000 and Fallone about $172,000.

The gap in funding could begin to close now that the general election is underway and liberals are not splitting their money between two candidates.

The general election will be held the same day as Wisconsin's presidential primary, when Democratic turnout is expected to be high. Liberals hope that will give them an edge in the Supreme Court race.

"I think we have to do everything we can to win the race on April 7 regardless of the presidential," Karofsky said. "We have got to get voters to the polls. We've got to get voters excited about our message, excited about our campaign."

Kelly said he thought he could win even if Democratic turnout is high.

"I really do believe regardless of people's politics, what they really want is the same thing out of their justices — someone who's going to put aside the politics and just do the job of a justice, just apply the law," he said.

Nonpartisan race in name only

Officially, races for Supreme Court are nonpartisan, but as in years past this one is steeped in partisanship.

Kelly is working closely with the state Republican Party and received an endorsement from President Donald Trump last month. Karofsky said she could never vote for Trump and signed the petition to try to recall Gov. Scott Walker in 2012.

Kelly was appointed to the high court in 2016 by Walker to replace Justice David Prosser when he retired. As a justice, Kelly has voted with the majority to uphold lame-duck laws limiting the powers of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and strike down a ban on carrying guns on Madison buses.

Karofsky won a seat on the Dane County court in 2017. She was previously director of crime victims service for the state Department of Justice, an assistant attorney general and deputy district attorney for Dane County.

Kelly has focused on his judicial philosophy, saying he is committed to interpreting laws as they are written. Karofsky has stressed her values, saying she wants to protect victims and ensure people maintain their civil rights.

From the outset of the race, Kelly parted ways with Karofsky over high-profile decisions.

In addition to striking down a gun ban on Madison's buses, Kelly has said he agrees with a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found the right to bear arms is an individual right, rather than one belonging to militias. Karofsky expressed skepticism of the logic behind both decisions.

Kelly in recent days received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association.

Karofsky embraced same-sex marriage, while Kelly wrote that legalizing it was an "illegitimate exercise of state power." After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, he wrote that the country no longer had a democracy.

Kelly has opposed abortion and wrote that those who support it are trying "to preserve sexual libertinism." Karofsky said the issue should be left between women and their doctors.

Before he was on the court, Kelly wrote favorably of Act 10, the 2011 law that limited collective bargaining for public workers, and discounted the merits of a legal challenge to it. Karofsky has backed the ability of public workers to unionize.

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.