Wisconsin shifts left, montana challenges corporate power
A seismic shift is underway in the American Midwest and West, signaling potential long-term consequences for judicial appointments and campaign finance. Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is poised for a liberal majority, while Montana is actively challenging the legacy of Citizens United with a bold new initiative—a direct response to decades of escalating political spending.
Wisconsin: a republican retreat?
For years, Wisconsin has been a battleground state, and the upcoming Supreme Court race next week is proving to be a decisive moment. Recent polling indicates a significant lead for Democratic judicial candidate Chris Taylor over her conservative opponent, Maria Lazar, who, tellingly, has styled herself as an “independent.” The margin isn't just in the polls; Taylor’s campaign has amassed a staggering five-to-one fundraising advantage, a clear indicator of shifting political winds. This represents a remarkable turnaround for a state where the Republican Party has struggled to maintain its dominance for nearly a decade, a decline exacerbated by the lingering fallout from former Governor Scott Walker's policies and the ongoing effort to dismantle the state’s historically egregious gerrymandered district maps.
Taylor’s stance on the 1849 criminal abortion ban—explicitly stating she would have voted against its implementation, citing its conflict with subsequent legislation—has further galvanized support. Her clarity on this sensitive issue contrasts with Lazar's more ambiguous positioning, a tactic that often backfires with increasingly engaged voters.
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Montana's audacious challenge to citizens united
Meanwhile, across the Rockies, Montana is attempting a remarkable legal workaround. The state has long harbored resentment over the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision, which effectively gutted the state’s pioneering campaign finance regulations—a legacy born out of the corruption of the Gilded Age mining industry. The Montana Supreme Court’s recent unanimous ruling, stating that reviewing the constitutionality of an initiative is “disfavored,” has cleared the path for organizers to gather signatures for the Transparent Election Initiative (I-194), also known as Ballot Issue 10.
The Montana Plan, as it’s dubbed, proposes a radical shift: prohibiting corporations—legally termed