Friday, Mar. 24, 2023
Was Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly ever elected as a judge?
While Dan Kelly served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for four years, he was not elected to the position.
In 2016, Kelly was appointed to the state Supreme Court by then-Gov. Scott Walker. Kelly, who was a private practice attorney in Waukesha, filled a seat vacated by conservative Justice David Prosser. In the 2020 spring election, Kelly ran against liberal candidate Jill Karofsky to keep his seat. Karofsky, a Dane County judge, beat Kelly 55% to 45%.
Kelly is now facing liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, in the spring 2023 election. The winner will occupy the state Supreme Court seat being vacated by retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack. The election will be April 4.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin Public Radio Walker Appoints GOP Legal Ally To State Supreme Court
- PBS Wisconsin Jill Karofsky Wins Supreme Court Election
- Wisconsin Public Radio Janet Protasiewicz, Dan Kelly to face off in high-stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court election
- New York Times Live: Wisconsin Supreme Court and Statewide Election Results
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel What to know about Daniel Kelly, the conservative candidate facing Janet Protasiewicz in the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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