Republican Wisconsin state Rep. Dan Knodl won an open state senate seat in a special election on Tuesday, giving Republicans a supermajority in the state senate.
Knodl defeated Democrat attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin in the election for Wisconsin’s 8th state senate district, an area representing Milwaukee’s northern suburbs. Republican Alberta Darling had held the senate seat, but Darling decided to retire in December of last year, leaving the seat open after the 2022 election.
Supermajority Powers
With a supermajority, Republicans can now override a gubernatorial veto in the state Senate. A successful override takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate and State Assembly, and Assembly Republicans remain two seats shy of the 66 they need for a supermajority in that house.The Senate supermajority means Republicans could theoretically convict the state government’s judges and executive branch officers in an impeachment proceeding, including Democrat Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. The State Assembly can vote to impeach elected officials with a simple majority, and the Senate can convict those officials on the impeachment charges with a two-thirds majority, both of which the Wisconsin Republican Party now has.
Knodl has said he’s not interested in impeaching Evers, saying he has been able to work with the governor. But he said he wants to impeach Milwaukee judges for being too lenient on criminal defendants.
Protasiewicz’s opponents criticized her for being too soft on crime in the lead-up to this Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Recent GOP Gains in State Legislatures
Knodl’s remarkable election victory came in the same week that Democrat North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham switched party affiliations, becoming a Republican and handing the Republican Party a supermajority of seats in the North Carolina House of Representatives. Republicans in North Carolina now have supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature, allowing them to override vetoes from Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper, who’s vetoed a record number of Republican bills.“While Rep. Thompson’s decision (to switch parties) is disappointing, it is not surprising. He already caucused with Republicans,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Sam Jenkins said in a statement following Thompson’s party switch.