Republicans can capture impeachment powers in state Senate special election
WHITEFISH BAY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A closing message from the Democratic candidate in Tuesday's election to fill a vacant seat in the Wisconsin Senate is her winning would keep Republicans from gaining enough power to remove state officials.
In an interview last week, Jodi Habush Sinykin said abortion rights and attracting young professionals to the state were among her top issues, but she also emphasized the contest will determine whether Republicans gain a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate.
"We are at a crossroads in Wisconsin," Habush Sinykin said. "And this election is gonna decide the future of our state."
Habush Sinykin is facing Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) in the 8th Senate District. The winner will replace Alberta Darling, the North Shore Republican who retired last fall after serving 30 years in the Senate. The district winds from the North Shore to Washington County, including the communities of Whitefish Bay, Mequon, Menomonee Falls, Germantown and Richfield.
With a Senate supermajority, Republicans would unlock the ability to impeach and remove "civil officers," but that term is not clearly defined in the state constitution. A 2014 review by the Legislature's in-house lawyers affirmed lawmakers can impeach and remove officials if a majority of the Assembly votes to impeach an officer, then the two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict and remove them.
Knodl has said in at least two media interviews during the campaign that he would consider voting to impeach elected officials over what he considers to be a soft-on-crime approach. Knodl specifically mentioned Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, and when asked about Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz, said he'd consider impeaching her too over sentences he believed to be too lenient.
Protasiewicz is the liberal candidate in a state Supreme Court contest that will determine whether conservatives keep a 4-3 advantage on the high court. That race has drawn a flood of national money, as the court's makeup will almost certainly determine the outcome in cases challenging Wisconsin's near-total abortion ban and whether Republican-drawn legislative maps will remain in place.
CBS 58 sent numerous interview requests to Knodl for this story; neither he nor his campaign responded.
Marquette University Political Science Professor Philip Rocco said a Republican supermajority wouldn't necessarily clear the path for a number of impeachments.
The Wisconsin Legislature has only impeached someone once in state history. Even then, the Senate acquitted Judge Levi Hubbell in 1853, although the clouds from that impeachment effort loomed over Hubbell for the rest of his career.
Rocco noted impeachment would require the support of every Senate Republican.
"The math on impeachment and removal would still be extremely tight," Rocco said. "There's a lot of questions left to be answered about whether or not they have the votes to actually make impeachment or removal happen."
Abortion a key campaign issue
As Habush Sinykin knocked on doors last week, she also told voters she supported abortion rights. The state's 1849 ban only makes exceptions for cases where a mother's life is at risk.
"We need a law passed in 2023 that is based on current medical knowledge, that takes into account societal norms now," Habush Sinykin said. "Not back in 1849, when slavery was legal, when women couldn't vote."
Habush Sinykin, who has been involved in politics as an environmental lawyer, said she would support a new abortion law that would return the state's abortion laws to what they were before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Republicans had previously passed and signed a law banning abortion at 20 weeks. When asked specifically if she would support a 20-week abortion ban, Habush Sinykin said she would.
"Yes, I would be comfortable with the restoration of the rights and opportunities and the health care options women have had for decades," she said. "For the entirety of my life."
The issues page on Knodl's campaign website makes no mention of abortion. He emphasizes economic issues and noted a desire to restrain government spending and avoid tax increases. In media appearances and in the candidates' lone debate last week, Knodl noted his daughter is 15 weeks pregnant when discussing why he considers himself a pro-life candidate.
Habush Sinykin said she also supported tax cuts as long as they were confined to "working families." She did not specify what she considered to be the cutoff for who'd qualify for tax relief.
A district that's a lighter shade of red
The 8th Senate District is favorable ground for Republicans, but Rocco noted the district is not as solidly conservative as it once was. In 2012, former Republican Gov. Scott Walker carried the Senate district with about 65% of the vote. Last November, Republican candidate Tim Michels won about 52% in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Rocco said the places to watch were the North Shore suburbs, where the issue of abortion could lead to a surge of female support for Habush Sinykin.
At the same time, the indictment of former President Donald Trump and a desire to keep control of the Supreme Court could drive conservative turnout in Republican bastions, such as Richfield and Germantown.
"If there is a high level of turnout and enthusiasm in more liberal-leaning suburbs like Whitefish Bay, this election could be very close," Rocco said.