Conservative Wisconsin Justices Agree WEC Boss can Keep her Job, Liberal Justices Flip

Justice Bradley Accuses Liberal Justices of Inconsistent Application of the Law

Two of Wisconsin’s conservative supreme court justices are once again accusing the liberals on the court of playing politics and disregarding the law when it comes to state appointments.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously agreed on Friday that Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe can keep her job, despite a challenge to her non-appointment to a second term.

The court wrote that WEC "does not have a duty to appoint a new administrator to replace Wolfe simply because her term has ended."

The case is based on, and similar to, the 2022 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that allowed DNR board member Fred Prehn to keep his seat on that board as a “holdover” appointee.

That decision came from a conservative-majority court. Friday’s decision came from the new, liberal-majority court.

Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley railed against the three liberal justices who objected to the idea of holdover appointees in the Prehn case, but wholeheartedly accepted them in Wolfe’s case.

“Those justices cannot have it both ways. If Prehn’s pronouncement that holdovers do not create vacancies is 'nonsensical,' then Wolfe holding over is too. If the rule of law is to govern, the resolution of each case should not depend upon the individual occupying the office,” Bradley wrote in a dissent. “Advocates are free to switch sides from one case to the next as their clients’ interests warrant, but justices are supposed to declare what the law is, regardless of the impact on their political benefactors or detractors.”

The liberal-majority court invited a new challenge to Prehn, but stopped short of ruling the case because that’s not what the court was asked to do.

Bradley said that invitation is just another overtly political act from the now-liberal majority.

“Perhaps for Prehn’s dissenting justices, the distinction between Prehn and this case is not actually rooted in the statutory language or principles of stare decisis. After all, the Prehn dissenters enthusiastically endorsed overruling a prior case contradicting their atextual analysis about holdover public officials,” she added. “And the Prehn dissenters, joined by the court’s newest justice, have had no qualms about overruling recent cases to accomplish their transparently political agenda.”

Friday’s unanimous decision ends any moves the legislature can make to remove Wolfe as Elections Commission administrator.

She will remain on the job.

But she also remains unpopular. Many Wisconsin Republicans blame Wolfe for the inconsistencies, and rulings during the 2020 presidential election.

WEC’s chairwoman, Ann Jacobs, said the court’s decision is a victory.

“I am thrilled because Meagan Wolfe is an outstanding administrator and we are lucky to have her at the helm of the agency. This is a win for elections in Wisconsin,” Jacobs wrote on Twitter.