New York Times: “The conservative candidate, Daniel Kelly, is trailing in limited private polling of the race. Abortion rights, which powered Democrats in the midterm elections, are driving the party to shovel enormous sums of money into the campaign. And perhaps most significantly, Justice Kelly’s campaign has been outspent by a staggering margin on television since the Feb. 21 primary: $9.1 million to nothing.”

“But Justice Kelly, who sat on the court before losing re-election in 2020, appears unfazed. He told supporters on Sunday in northwest Wisconsin that help was on the way from unidentified outside groups in his race against, a liberal Milwaukee County judge opposing him in the April 4 election.”

USA Today: “Most Americans won’t have a ballot this year, but the handful of upcoming state elections still hold national implications.”

“The statewide ‘off-year’ contests in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi could hold valuable lessons for both parties ahead of the presidential election in 2024, experts say.”

“And Democrats also face a brutal Senate map in 2024 with incumbents facing reelection in Montana, West Virginia and Ohio, all of which former President Donald Trump easily won in 2020.”

“A year before he became one of two Democrats left standing in the race for Chicago mayor, Paul Vallas went on a conservative radio show and mocked the last two Democratic presidents,” Politico reports.

“Appearing on Chicago’s Morning Answer program, Vallas rolled his eyes at former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as they spoke about their new library in Hyde Park and laughed about them living in Martha’s Vineyard. Vallas, in a separate appearance a few months later, questioned whether President Joe Biden actually was the one running the White House.”

“Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago lost her bid for a second term on Tuesday, a resounding defeat that reflected widespread dissatisfaction from voters over her handling of crime and policing in the nation’s third-largest city,” the New York Times reports.

A final Victory Research poll in Chicago shows Paul Vallas expanding his lead in today’s mayoral race, with three candidates still battling it out to determine who could finish second and force an April runoff.

Brandon Johnson is also edging out incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot, though she is still well within striking distance as she looks to earn a second term.

Nathaniel Rakich: “It may be an odd year, but there are still elections happening — and the first notable election of 2023 took place last Tuesday, with contests in Virginia, Wisconsin and a couple of other states.”

“The results left Democrats and liberals cheering; their preferred candidates not only won, but by larger-than-expected margins. However, Democrats shouldn’t get too giddy about what that performance means for future elections.”

National Review: “The Wisconsin GOP has a problem — they’re losers. They lost a chance at the executive branch in November, and they’re fixing to lose their advantage in the judicial branch in April.”

Politico: “The contest is poised to be the most expensive state Supreme Court race ever, with major outside groups — particularly those focused on abortion — rushing in funds.”

Politico: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, faces eight challengers in Tuesday’s contest and neither money, advertising nor polling are clear indicators of the outcome in a race almost entirely about crime.”

“The only thing that seems certain among political insiders, alderpeople, members of the congressional delegation, pollsters and the mayor herself, is that Lightfoot won’t crack the 50 percent needed to avoid a two-person runoff on April 4.”

“For years, Republicans have sought to win over voters by depicting Democratic-led cities as lawless centers of violence that need tough-on-crime policies. In Chicago, some of the Democrats running for mayor are deploying the same strategy as they debate how to make the city safer,” the AP reports.

“Even incumbent Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to serve as Chicago mayor, has used language right out of the GOP playbook, accusing a top rival in her reelection bid of wanting to defund the police.”

“The shift in rhetoric reflects the degree to which concerns about crime have dominated Tuesday’s mayoral election in Chicago and threatened Lightfoot’s reelection bid. Far from being an outlier, the nation’s third-largest city is just the latest Democratic stronghold where public safety has become a top election issue.”

“Eight months after the nation’s highest court made abortion illegal in Wisconsin, a liberal State Supreme Court candidate who made reproductive rights the centerpiece of her campaign won more votes than her two conservative opponents combined,” the New York Times reports.

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court primary election on Tuesday was a triumph for the state’s liberals. In addition to capturing 54 percent of the vote in the four-way, officially nonpartisan primary, they will face a conservative opponent in the general election who was last seen losing a 2020 court election by double digits.”

For members: Liberals Got the Conservative They Wanted In Wisconsin

Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D) has won a special election for a seat in the Republican-dominated Kentucky Senate, where she’ll succeed the state’s newest member of Congress, the AP reports.

“Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee County judge, won her race on Tuesday and advanced to the general election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the most consequential American election on the 2023 calendar,” the New York Times reports.

“On April 4, Judge Protasiewicz will face one of two conservatives for a 10-year term on the court: Daniel Kelly, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, or Jennifer Dorow, a Waukesha County judge known for presiding over the trial last fall of a man who killed six people by driving through a 2021 Christmas parade. Late Tuesday, The A.P. had not yet projected which candidate would advance along with Judge Protasiewicz.”

“The winner of the officially nonpartisan race will tip the balance of the state’s seven-member Supreme Court, which has been controlled by conservatives since 2008. If Judge Protasiewicz prevails, the court will have a four-member liberal majority that would be likely to overturn the state’s 1849 law forbidding abortion in nearly all cases, redraw Wisconsin’s heavily gerrymandered legislative and congressional maps, and influence how the state’s 10 electoral votes are awarded after the 2024 presidential election.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The consequences of losing control of the court for conservatives will draw heavy spending on behalf of the conservative candidate who will come in second on Tuesday.”

Jennifer McClellan has made history as the first Black woman elected to represent Virginia in Congress, NBC News reports.