Frederica Freyberg:

Results of the main choice on the ballot left a jubilant winner and an angry loser. The high stakes, high-cost Wisconsin Supreme Court race shifts the balance of the court to a liberal majority, a much-watched result with political implications going forward. For more, we check in with our political panelists Democrat Scot Ross and Republican Bill McCoshen and thanks for being here.

Bill McCoshen:

Thank you for having us.

Scot Ross:

Good to be here.

Frederica Freyberg:

First, I want to ask about Daniel Kelly’s concession speech. What are your thoughts on that, Bill?

Bill McCoshen:

Well, you want to win with grace and humility and lose with class and humility and he did not do that. I mean, when you lose by 11 points, that’s a landslide in the state of Wisconsin. You need to be a little more humble. I think it was insulting to all the people that worked so hard for him, folks that donated to him. I mean, that’s a representation on them too, and he didn’t think about that. You’ve got to lose with class.

Frederica Freyberg:

Scot, when you saw that, what did you think?

Scot Ross:

I thought it’s the face of the Republican Party right now because it has been decisive. It has been extreme. He is the embodiment of where the Republican has gone. It’s not where Bill’s at. It’s where — it’s the Trump, it’s the DeSantis, it’s the division, just the rejection of what have been norms in both policy and politics.

Frederica Freyberg:

So, Bill, this was an 11-point win, as you pointed out. That was a trouncing. What exactly happened?

Bill McCoshen:

Well, it was twice as bad as his last race in 2020. He lost by about 110,000 votes a couple of years ago and this one was more like 225,000 votes. I think money was a factor and there are different types of money. The money that Janet Protasiewicz was able to raise in her campaign goes further buying more campaign ads. She had way more gross rating points than he did. He always struggled to raise money. Jennifer Dorow raised twice as much money than he did in the primary and he never picked it up in the general, so she had a huge advantage on the types of ads she could see buy and at what rate. Things seemed a little bit equal as it related to third parties, but those ads are far more expensive and the candidate doesn’t control those messages, so he was outmanned and out moneyed.

Frederica Freyberg:

Was it about the money, Scot?

Scot Ross:

I think it’s four things. Let me say that Bill reminds us, you know, in talking about Kelly’s last loss, that since 2016, Democrats have won 15 of 18 statewide elections. This is a trend. They won the 2018 Supreme Court seat, 55 to 45. They won the one in 2020, 55 to 45. And they won the other night 55 to 45. The amount they’re winning by has increased. It’s gone from 110,000 to 150,000 to 200,000. The trends are not right for the Republicans both in the turn-out in places like Dane County and Milwaukee County, but also in the WOW counties. Janet Protasiewicz won the city of Waukesha, the place where Scott Walker had 73% in 2014. But again, the Democrats have – they do have the money, they have the message, they have the machine, and they have the motivation and that’s going to win elections.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of a wake-up call is this for Republicans? Are Republicans now on the wrong side of the abortion issue politically?

Bill McCoshen:

No, we had the wrong candidates. We won on issues on Tuesday night. There were three statewide referenda on the ballot. Two related to bail, cash bail. One passed with 67%. The other had 68%. Then there was a referenda question, an advisory referenda question on able-bodied childless adults working. That passed with 80%. All 72 counties voted for those three referenda, including Dane and Milwaukee. We’re right on the issues. We got to do a better job on candidate screening.

Scot Ross:

You’re not going to win a statewide issue on any of the three things he’s talking about, but on abortion, you’re going to because it hits people hard. It’s now a disqualify — to be on the Republican side in statewide elections is disqualifying. In the last several years of elections, save for like one. Save for Ron Johnson. But what we see is not only is it toxic in places like Dane County and Milwaukee, but Janet won the 3rd congressional district, the 1st congressional district soundly. She won in places like the French Quarter, Eau Claire and La Crosse, 64% in both of those counties. Republicans are in a lot of trouble if they don’t change. I don’t think they’re going to.

Bill McCoshen:

Kelly let Protasiewicz define his position on abortion. Voters never knew what his position was on abortion. If you’re going to be pro-life, that’s fine, but you’ve got to defend your position, right? You can’t let your opponent define you on issues such as that and it was this huge problem for Kelly. No question about that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Scot, does this kind of spell the turn from the Scott Walker era?

Scot Ross:

Without a doubt, absolutely, 100%. Given where the Republicans are on abortion and given where the public is and how they see the Supreme Court being that A to B line, because the overturning of the 1849 ban when it happens, that’s going to be involved in the Supreme Court elections from now until the next 10 years. So we’ve got one up in ’25, two Republicans up in ’26 and ’27. After ’27, Democrats could in theory have six of the seven Supreme Court seats.

Bill McCoshen:

We’ve sort of run through Walker-backed candidates with Rebecca Kleefisch and now Daniel Kelly, but now his policies are going to be up for grabs in the new Supreme Court. When Janet Protasiewicz gets invested in August, there’s two years where progressives will have full control or the majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and a lot of his policies might be on the line.

Frederica Freyberg:

Bill, Scott Walker says that UW-Madison helped Dane County’s numbers because he says, “Liberals are indoctrinating young people and turning them out to vote.” What’s your response to that?

Bill McCoshen:

My response is Dane County has been a problem for Republicans for 20 years. We finally have some new leadership here in the county. Brandon Maly is going to do a very good job. Chrissi Ilgen. I’m encouraged by the new leadership in Dane County, but we’re a ways behind where Democrats are. They have figured out that they can harvest more votes here in Dane County than any other county in the state and build up a massive advantage. Janet Protasiewicz had 153,000 vote advantage just in Dane County. It’s going to take some time to fix it for Republicans. Message matters, candidates matter, and it’s going to take some time.

Scot Ross:

Janet won 12 counties that have UW campuses. The reason that people aren’t voting is because Scott Walker wants to raise money for his new operation. It’s because Republicans are wrong on the issues: abortion, transgender, rights, voting, education all across the board.

Frederica Freyberg:

A minute left. What are the implications for 2024?

Scot Ross:

The implications are that — what’s his name Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil better watch out because it sounds like they might be going out if DC invests in Wisconsin elections, we’re going to win. We’ve proven it time and time again. You put the money in, we get the right candidates, we win the elections.

Bill McCoshen:

Too soon to tell. We need a different candidate at the top of the ticket other than Donald Trump if we want to win back in the suburbs. For Republicans, you have to win the BOW and the WOW counties: Brown, Outagamie, Winnebago, Washington, Ozaukee, Washington. Janet Protasiewicz won all three of the BOW counties and she cut the margins in the WOW significantly. We need a different candidate at the top of the ticket. At the legislative level, just keep passing proactive policies that voters respond to and I think that formula works.

Scot Ross:

27 counties she won including the entire southwest and south-central part of the state, 27 counties.

Frederica Freyberg:

We need to leave it there. Scot Ross, Bill McCoshen, thanks very much.