Dylan Brogan
Web-Karofsky
Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky toasts her win over incumbent Justice Daniel Kelly.
Brandi Funk started cheering in her living room when she heard that Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky had won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
“Then I heard yelling outside, came outside, and saw my neighbors yelling, too,” says Funk, who lives near Karofsky on Madison’s near west side. “It’s been a rough past week in Wisconsin. But this gives me hope.”
Funk was one of around a dozen neighbors who showed up to an impromptu election night party in the street in front of Karofsky’s home (stay at home orders due to COVID-19 precluded any real election night gatherings). A few of the candidate’s Dane County court colleagues also stopped by to celebrate — some brought their own beer and champagne to have a toast from a safe distance.
“Karofsky!!” one Dane County judge yelled from half a block away as the candidate walked outside to thank her neighbors with a huge smile on her face.
Karofsky says she knew the race against conservative Justice Daniel Kelly would be close but she saw some hope even during the chaos of last Tuesday’s election — which she thought should have been postponed.
“I think that people felt like their vote was going to be suppressed and it had a rebound effect,” Karofsky tells Isthmus. “When I saw how many people wanted to vote — were willing to risk their health and the health of their families just to vote — I started to feel pretty good about [the election].”
The judge’s win was a surprise to many after Republican lawmakers and the Wisconsin Supreme Court thwarted Gov. Tony Evers’ last-minute order to postpone the election until June because of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The United States Supreme Court delivered a second blow to liberals when it overturned a federal appeals court ruling that would have extended absentee voting in Wisconsin until April 13. The result was long lines at the polls across the state, especially in Milwaukee, which only had five polling places open instead of the typical 180.
Karofsky credits her win to having a message that resonated with voters. During her campaign, she argued that the court system was corrupt and controlled by special interests. In one of her television ads, she promised to make decisions “based on the law and its impact on real people, not corporate donors.”
Karofsky, favored by liberals, says she was an improbable candidate and the underdog in the race. “I didn't have any money. I had a full-time job. I'm a single mom of two teenagers. He had so much more money than I did. He was the incumbent. His campaign spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on these lying ads,” says Karofsky. “He had Donald Trump tweeting for him. [Republicans] used a global pandemic to try to suppress the vote. And we still won!”
Last year, Brian Hagedorn beat Appeals Court Judge Lisa Neubauer by about 6,000 votes to win a seat on the Supreme Court, increasing the conservative majority on the high court to 5-2. Neubauer, unlike Karofsky, campaigned on a platform in which she denied having any ideological views. A Karofsky victory now resets the balance on the court to 4-3, and sets up a scenario where liberals could gain control in 2023, when Chief Justice Patience Roggensack is up for reelection.
Karofsky declared victory around 6:30 p.m. when only around 40 percent of the vote had been counted in Dane County.
“I thought it would be close. We were down around 13,000 votes at one point,” says Karofsky. “But the city of Milwaukee had already come in, the totals were relatively even at that point and we were still waiting for Madison. So that’s when I started feeling really, really good.”
The Associated Press declared Karofsky the winner around 7 p.m. and 30 minutes later Kelly conceded the race.
“As I’ve said all along, the people of Wisconsin are my boss. They loan their authority to us and they can take it back and loan it to someone else if they wish. And that’s what they decided to do,” Kelly said in a voicemail message to Karofsky. “Congratulations and I trust that you will find it as enjoyable as I did.”
In a statement to supporters, Kelly also said that “the expiration of the time and authority loaned to me is a reminder that our system still works — that our Constitution endures through every test and trial, and that here in America the lawful will of the people shall always prevail.”
Karofsky is more than 100,000 votes ahead of Kelly with 93 percent of precincts reporting. She won handily in Milwaukee, Dane, Rock, Green and Columbia counties. In the more equally divided Fox Valley, Karofsky won Outagamie, Winnebago and Brown counties, too.
President Donald Trump came out strong for Kelly, tweeting his support for the conservative justice three times. Kathie Beckett, celebrating outside of Karofsky’s home, recalled also receiving a robocall from the president before the election. "He was extolling Kelly and he said not to vote for Jill Karofsky because she was in Nancy Pelosi's pocket,” says Beckett, who thinks the Karofsky victory bodes well for the state.
“I think it is really important for Wisconsin because it shows that people are ready to think about who they're voting for,” she says.
Another neighbor of Karofsky’s, Melanie Crawford, was still a bit stunned by the result.
“I was very upset with the decision [to not postpone the election]. But I started seeing the returns come in at 4 p.m. and I was just glued to my computer,” says Crawford. “I’m happy because I think Jill’s win will bring some fairness back to the Wisconsin court system.”
[Judith Davidoff contributed to this report.]
