SUPERIOR — As voters prepare to head to the polls Tuesday, April 4, state Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly brought his message to The Shack on Monday, April 3.
The campaign stop drew almost 30 people to the banquet room where Kelly spoke. The stop lasted less than 15 minutes after starting late.
“I want to tell you that my friend Justice Kelly here has visited and is visiting 21 cities in the state of Wisconsin in four days to save the court,” said state Rep. Angie Sapik, R-Lake Nebagamon.
Kelly’s visit to Superior followed stops in Green Bay and Wausau. He was headed to Hudson, La Crosse, Janesville and Waukesha on the fourth day of the statewide tour.
Kelly served as a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice from 2016 to 2020. Former Gov. Scott Walker appointed Kelly to fill the vacancy left when Justice David Prosser retired.
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“The rule of law, with respect to the work the court does, is really simple,” Kelly said. “We look at the constitution and we see what you’ve told us you want the judiciary to do. And when I look at that, I see we’ve got one thing that you command us to do … Use the existing law to decide the cases that come before the court, and then stop. The stopping is really important, because you’ve told us you don’t want us doing politics on the court.”
Kelly was critical of his opponent, Judge Janet Protasiewicz, stating that she would follow the “rule of Janet” rather than the rule of law.
Wisconsin Public Radio reported that Protasiewicz canceled a planned appearance in Madison on Saturday, April 1, citing an illness. However, surrogates, including former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, stumped on her behalf.
While the state Supreme Court election is not a partisan race, Kelly is favored by conservatives, while Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County judge, is favored by liberals.
Kelly said the laws and facts are the only things that should tip the scales of justice.
“You’re not supposed to put your thumb on the scale of justice, and if you do it even once, that disqualifies you from any office of trust in the judiciary,” Kelly said.
Kelly encouraged everyone at the rally to reach out to 10 or 15 people to exercise the power that’s in their hands by voting Tuesday.
“I learned from Spider-Man movies that with great power comes great responsibility,” Kelly said. “So now with all that power you have, it’s your responsibility to decide who will we have on the Supreme Court."
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