OP-ED: Republicans’ Push to Impeach Justice Protasiewicz Is Both Unpopular and Unfounded. Wisconsinites Should Make Their Voices Heard.

This spring, Wisconsin voters turned out in record numbers to elect Justice Janet Protasiewicz in a landslide victory to our state Supreme Court. Now, instead of fixing issues Wisconsinites care about, some extremist Republicans are wasting time and resources in a push to throw away the outcome of that election – simply because they didn’t like what we said with our votes.

In total, over 1 million Wisconsinites voted to elect Justice Protasiewicz – and according to a recent statewide poll of Wisconsin voters, we value our votes and expect our collective voices to be respected by the legislature.

The poll, conducted this month by national award-winning polling firm GBAO, found that Wisconsinites overwhelmingly oppose state Republicans’ push to impeach Justice Protasiewicz by a 24-point margin. The poll also found that Justice Protasiewicz has positive job ratings, with voters approving of her performance on the court by an 11-point margin.

The handful of right-wing legislators pushing to impeach Justice Protasiewicz secured their seats in office through what experts have called some of the most gerrymandered legislative maps in the nation. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has a progressive majority for the first time in 15 years, and legal action seeking fair maps is making its way to the court’s desk, state Republicans are scared of what a fair and impartial court will mean for the gerrymandered maps that got them elected. 

Amid mounting proof that their impeachment efforts are extremely unpopular, Republicans are also attempting to shift the spotlight away from their still-active impeachment threats by passing a bad faith redistricting bill that would keep the gerrymandered legislature in charge of how Wisconsin’s maps are drawn.

Despite this very obvious ploy to distract the public, select Republicans have not let up on their impeachment efforts, and the only way to end the very unpopular threat of impeachment is for Republicans in the legislature to take it off the table.

Wisconsinites should continue to make their voices heard by contacting their state legislators and asking them not to nullify your vote by overturning an election that over one million voters had their voices heard in.

Call your legislator today at 1-800-362-9472 and demand they honor Wisconsinites’ votes by standing against the impeachment of Justice Protasiewicz. You can track your legislator’s stance on impeachment here.