Yesterday’s spring primary included a statewide contest for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, with incumbent Justice Dan Kelly and challengers Judge Jill Karofsky and Professor Ed Fallone. (It was the only race on Whitewater’s ballot, as there were no contested local races).
A few remarks —
Statewide. Kelly and Karofsky will move on to the spring general election on April 7th. In unofficial results, Kelly received 352,860 votes, Karofsky 261,721 with Fallone in third at 89,181. (The sum of the challengers’ votes, 350,902, is roughly the same as Kelly’s total.)
In Whitewater. In the City of Whitewater, Karofsky led with 478, Kelly had 364, and Fallone had 276. (The sum of the challengers’ votes, 842, is significantly greater than Kelly’s total.)
April 7th. April 7th is both Wisconsin’s spring general election and a presidential preference primary. The upcoming electorate will be so much larger than last night’s, with a likely onslaught of presidential candidates’ advertising, so predicting the outcome of April’s judicial election based on February’s results is unsound.
Walworth County. Once again, and perhaps forevermore, Walworth County reported its election results in a pdf format while nearby counties used a more advanced web-based format. A county that doesn’t take pride in its election reporting doesn’t take pride in representative government.