A left-wing Wisconsin Supreme Court justice was endorsed on the campaign trail last year by activists that, around the same time, paid major sums to a Democratic law firm now pressing the court to order new congressional maps ahead of the 2024 election, records show.
Republican lawmakers demanded the recusal last week of Badger State justice Janet Protasiewicz from taking up a redistricting motion due to her criticism of Wisconsin’s “rigged” maps while running in 2023. That heavily scrutinized effort to overhaul Wisconsin elections is being led by Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias, whose influential Elias Law Group raked in more than $680,000 combined for “legal services” in 2023 from left-wing groups that, in turn, rallied to support Protasiewicz, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
That Protasiewicz was boosted in 2023 by Emily’s List, End Citizens United, and Family Friendly Action PAC is likely to prompt further calls from the GOP for the justice to step away from the Elias Law Group’s motion, which seeks a new congressional map in time for the election this November. Protasiewicz waved away requests from conservatives last year for her to recuse from lawsuits in connection to the state’s GOP-drawn legislative maps , which the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled were unconstitutional in December 2023. Democrats have a 4-3 court majority.