Prairie du Chien Selects Jill Karofsky Over David Kelly!

Prairie du Chien Selects Jill Karofsky Over David Kelly!

I have previously posted on the highly swingy politicsal nature of southwestern Wisconsin, symbolized by the town there at the mouth of the Wisconsin River, French-founded Prairie du Chien (named for an Indian cheif, it turns out, who was “Dog of the Prairie” in English).  It seems that how SW Wixsonsin goes, so goes the whole state, at least in 2012, 2016, and 2018.

Now we can add an election in 2020, that for a seat on the state Supreme Court, where liberal Dem Jill Karofsky from Madison clobbered incumbent super conservative Justic David Kelly by 11%.  And, yes, SW Wisconsin went for her, along with some areas not expected, such as traditionally conservative counties in the Northeast that contain Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh.  Milwaukee suburbs still went for Kelly, bur Karofsky made gains there.

Of course this election was marked by major GOP efforts to suppress voting, restricting absentee ballots (a move backed 5-4 by the SCOTUS)  and with only 5 out of 180 polls open for voting in Milwaukee, source of the largest Dem voting base in the state.  But even with covid-19, long lines formed there, and many observers think the GOP shot itself in the foot with its restriictive moves, angering Dem-leaning voters who turned out indroves, despite the health danger.

An amusing tidbit is that now GOPs are saying it was all a plot by Dems (probably Obama in the background) urging Bernie Sanders to stay in the race through Wisconsin, something many observers had long predicted since his losses on Super Tuesday.  Maybe that made some difference, although personally I think it is the Prairie du Chien Effect.

Barkley Rosser