Republicans in Wisconsin are reportedly mulling impeaching Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz before she's even made a single ruling.
And The Bulwark's Charlie Sykes, a former Republican and longtime Wisconsin political observer, writes that there's a potential for this gambit – which he calls a "jihad" – to backfire spectacularly against the GOP, as they would be overturning a statewide election that Protasiewicz won by 10 percentage points.
Sykes starts off by explaining how Republicans plan to take Protasiewicz out of action even if they don't have enough votes to convict her in the State Senate: Namely, vote to impeach her, force her temporarily off the bench, and then sit on her case indefinitely.
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But the danger then is that Protasiewicz could simply resign, which would allow Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to appoint a replacement, who would then be up for reelection in spring of 2024, when voters would once again be asked to weigh in on the issue of abortion rights in the state.
"They may trigger the nuclear option because of redistricting, but a new election would be about democracy, the rule of law — and abortion," he warns. "Last spring’s campaign was dominated by abortion... So, a do-over post-impeachment vote would guarantee that abortion would be again the dominant issue in this key swing state throughout the presidential election year."
