Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Washington Wizards 140-128.
Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the New York Mets 9-0.
Tuesday night, at about 9 p.m., the Associated Press called the race for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for Janet Protasiewicz. The liberal Protasiewicz defeated the conservative Daniel Kelly, flipping the court to its first liberal majority in 15 years.
At 11:45 p.m., with 95% of votes counted, Protasiewicz led Kelly 982,525 votes (55%) to 805,212 (45%).
Protasiewicz will be appointed to a 10-year term.
Following the AP call, Kelly gave a remarkably nasty “concession speech,” continually insulting and demeaning the woman who beat him. “I wish that in a circumstance like this, I would be able to concede to a worthy opponent,” Kelly said. “But I do not have a worthy opponent to which I can concede.”
Classy stuff. Kelly continued:
This was the most deeply deceitful, dishonorable, despicable campaign I have ever seen run for the courts. It was truly beneath contempt. I say this not because we did not prevail. I do not say this because of the rancid slanders that were launched against me, although that was bad enough. But that is not my concern. My concern is the damage done to the institution of the courts. My opponent is a serial liar. She’s disregarded judicial ethics, she’s demeaned the judiciary with her behavior, and this is the future that we have to look forward to in Wisconsin.
I’ve been committed to the rule of law my entire career. I understand this to be the most fundamental, basic promise of civilization. And at its heart it lives in the judiciary, and if not there, nowhere at all. We’ve had this laid out plainly for us. We could have the rule of law, or the rule of Janet. And the people of Wisconsin have chosen the rule of Janet. I respect that decision because it is theirs to make.
As I’ve gone around this great state of ours, everywhere I’ve gone I’ve reminded the people that all the power to create and maintain governments in this state belongs to them. And all the power to decide who sits in the seats created by their constitution belongs to them. And I promised them that I would respect their decision in this race, regardless of what it is, because that is what a servant does. So I respect the decision that the people of Wisconsin have made. But I think this does not end well. As I look forward, I hope…I hope it does end well.
This has been a beautiful, beautiful life here in Wisconsin with all of you. And I wish Wisconsin the best of luck. Because I think it’s going to need it. Thank you.
This is the second Wisconsin Supreme Court loss for Kelly. Former Governor Scott Walker appointed Kelly to the court in 2016, but Kelly lost his seat to Jill Karofsky in 2020.
So yeah, a busy night Wisconsin.
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