Trump ally with ties to 'fake elector' scheme advances in Wisconsin Supreme Court race

For an election-denying ally of former President Trump, is one step closer to joining the Wisconsin Supreme Court. After advancing in Tuesday's primary, former state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly will face off against liberal candidate Janet Protasewicz in April. That general election will determine the political control of the court. NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster is in Chicago with the latest, I mean, just saying sort of the politics of the court is something that decades ago people would have said that's not okay, that this is a liberal justice, this is a conservative justice. But this is going to be one heck of a fight, isn't it? Yeah, and it's really clear how much times have changed. The fact that the Democratic Party in Wisconsin and Republican Party in Wisconsin both quickly and immediately endorsed both the liberal and conservative candidates just gives you a sense of how high the stakes are in this race here. You know, last night we learned the names of the candidates advancing to the general election, but it's been clear.

The battle lines have been set for some time. This is a court that has been conservatively held since 2008. Conservatives have had a majority in this court for decades now. So, Democrats see this as an opportunity to flip a court that has provided hurdle after hurdle for them, that has struck down COVID restrictions in the beginning of the pandemic, that made drop boxes illegal, that chose Republican-advantaged legislative maps. So, those are the issues that will likely come before the court again in the future. And when you listen to these candidates, they cannot be more different. I want you to listen to what we heard from the liberal candidate last night during her election victory party, and then a little bit of what we heard from the conservative candidate in my interview with him before the election.

I'll be running against someone who doesn't think women get to make their own reproductive rights. I will guarantee you, I will guarantee you that my opponent, if elected, will uphold the 1849 near-total abortion ban. I can guarantee you that. I've made sure to tell everybody the very same thing about what I would do on the court, and it's the same thing I would do on every single issue, putting aside my personal values, my personal politics, and deciding according to the law. Expect to hear a lot of talk about abortion in this race. Wisconsin is a state operating under an 1800 abortion ban that has effectively outlawed and closed some of the abortion clinics in the state. So, that is something expected to come back before the court.

Daniel Kelly, who you heard there, the conservative candidate, while he says that he is going to approach this in partially, his campaign sent out a press release a couple of days ago, touting the support from quote, pro-life groups in the state. He's also someone who says that he is not inclined to rehear cases on redistricting because he doesn't believe that's a legal matter. It's more of a political matter. So, no matter where you fall on these issues, it's going to be a major fight, and you can expect a record-setting amount of money being spent on this race, Chris.

MSNBC