but there are 12 assembly republicans, and six senate republicans whose district voted for janet protasiewiczuse specifically targeting those six? i you saying, are those 12 and saying hey guys, it is gonna blow up in your faces soon, or is it sort of a general conversation that you're doing throughout the state on this is sort of a violation of the public will? >> right now, is a type to you, there are volunteers knocking on doors talking to voters who voted, we think, for janet protasiewicz this spring, to tell them your state senator, your state representative is considering nullifying your vote, closing out the election because they didn't like the results and asking voters to contact the legislators. this is a political disaster for republicans. it's going to backfire if they move forward with it. it will make the 2022 midterms in wisconsin's, we are where republicans lost the governor's race, look like child's play. republicans are playing with fire in a dynamite factory. they think that they this might be, i guess, their own way to lock in gerrymandered max maps that give them total co

janet protasiewicz is the more liberal of the two candidates.dly considered to be the most consequential election in the year 2023. as you see with these elections, here at the projected winner is janet protasiewicz. >> so, the more liberal justice, janet protasiewicz won by a whopping 11 points. the conservative got absolutely crushed. and he wasn't very happy about it. >> i was that in a circumstance like this, i'd be able to concede to a worthy opponent. but i do not have a worthy opponent to which i can concede. my opponent is a serial liar. she has disregarded judicial ethics. she has demeaned the judiciary with her behavior. >> really one of the nastiest concession speeches i've ever seen. hard to imagine that that guy didn't win over the voters in wisconsin. but apart from the other lack of decorum, republicans were sulking. because here's the thing, wisconsin instate legislature is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. it's a 50/50 state, right? we know that. right down the middle. statewide elections haven't been won by d

justice janet protasiewicz hasn't heard a case, saying she should not be allowed to rule on the state's congressional maps, maps that are drawn to permanently protect republican control over the state house. joining us now, editor at large of the bulwark and an msnbc contributor, charlie sykes, she hasn't yet heard a case, what grounds are republicans using to say they want her out? >> the main grounds are they have the votes to do it. there's no corruption. there's no allegation of corruption. they're demanding that she recuse herself from the redistricting case because during the campaign, she said that wisconsin's gerrymandered districts were rigged. they have filed against her going nowhere and saying if she will not recuse her from the case, they will vote to remove her from the court. if they have enough votes in the state assembly, they can effectively remove her from being able to rule on that issue or any other issue facing the court, including wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban. >> there's some fundamental democratic issues here, like democracy-related issues here. the voters overw

liberal candidate janet protasiewicz told voters the wisconsin maps are wrong. called the maps rigged. she said they do not reflect people in this state. voters heard that message and they picked janet by a margin of 11 points, a resounding margin. her victory created a liberal majority on the wisconsin supreme court for the first time in 15 years with a huge win. and so wisconsin republicans freaked out. before she hears a single case on the supreme court, republicans are threatening to impeach her. they would need a majority vote in the house to impeach her. they have that. they would need a two-thirds majority in the senate to remove her. a two-thirds majority, which they also have. wisconsin democrats are now launching a $4 million ad campaign to alert wisconsin voters, a $4 million campaign to alert wisconsin voters to what the republicans are doing, to what the republican plan is for this new justice that the voters in the state just elected by such a resounding margin. the chair of the state democratic party told the national press this week, quote, the lo

. >> all right, that was wisconsin's the priem court justice, janet protasiewicz, giving a victory speecha liberal majority in the state for the first time in 15 years. but now, guess what? republicans, wisconsin republicans, are trying to undo the voice of the people. how democratic of them. in recent weeks, they've asked protegee woods to recuse herself from hearing lawsuit seeking to overturn republican drawn electoral maps, and they are pushing for her impeachment. before she's even heard a single case? wisconsin republicans want to remove her because she referred to the states legislative maps as rigged during her campaign. the new york times reports there is little precedence to determine how and impeachment would play out. the wisconsin constitution stipulates that impeachment is intended for corrupt conduct in office or for the commission of a crime or misdemeanor. this week, democrats announced $4 million or, i should, say a 4 million dollar effort to reach voters by its ev ads and in person that reach to pressure republicans to back down from their impeachment. efforts joining m

and the fact that they're accusing janet protasiewicz for somehow being corrupt for saying everythings -- that are something he is threatening to impeach her, has admitted utter himself. it's a fact. it's factually demonstrable that the maps are rigged. >> if you have an election like 2018 where you win a bunch of statewide races and in that same election, with that date voter base who votes for a bunch of democrats statewide turns into a 2 to 1 majority in the house, this is a thing, this is existential for them. because this is how they have their power. they are now talking about publicly impeaching her before she even does anything or rules, am i right about that? >> yes, you are right. you're right, robin boss was the speaker of the assembly said that they're going to seriously consider impeaching her and the issue that they want to impeach her on is that it was unfair for her during her campaign to say plainly that she thought that the maps were rigged, that you described that this was somehow pre judging a case because there was no case at that time. even that is kind of silly.

janet protasiewicz won by an 11-point landslide.t very often in a state like wisconsin. these republicans are really playing with fire in a dynamite factory. they are saying to voters that if they vote for someone who those politicians don't like, the politicians will just undo the election decisions that the voters made, but the voters ultimately are in charge. and, frankly, i think a lot of these republicans know in their hearts that this is not only wrong, but it is dangerous. it is something neither side should ever be contemplating it, to novi an election for partisan political gain and my deep, sincere hope is that enough of them say to the republican assembly speaker robin boss, cut this out. that they backed away from the brink and we don't have the kind of constitutional crisis that would threaten every elected to judge in the country. we would then have to worry that legislatures might throw them out of office or suspend them from office if they don't like the judicial rulings that they, in good faith, plan to make in the

in wisconsin, justice janet protasiewicz, less than two months into the job, is facing potential impeachmentd legislature. and in north carolina, justice anita earls, one of just two democrats on the court, is being investigated by a judicial commission. to discuss the politics at play in state courts, i'm joined by zac schultz, who covers politics for pbs wisconsin. and colin campbell, capitol bureau chief for wunc. welcome to you both. in wisconsin, republicans were fighting to preserve the legislative electoral maps that they drew or arguing that the justice has to recuse herself from this case. where do things stand? >> they are threatening impeachment which is a process in wisconsin for elected judges that we have not really had to deal with in the last century plus. is completely new territory. the leader of the republicans for the legislature says he is bringing in some former supreme court justices, some conservatives to help give him some legal guidance as to what path may lay forward and whether any of the things she has said on the campaign trail last spring would rise to the leve