In another sign of Wisconsin’s polarization, the same Supreme Court that kept polls open last month in a pandemic struck down Tony Evers’s stay-at-home order at the request of Republican legislators, and revelers hit the bars in some localities.
Wisconsin is certainly living up to its reputation as an evenly divided cockpit of American cultural and political conflict. Last month, the state’s April 7 primary was held in hellish conditions as conservative legislators and judges insisted on in-person voting that appears to have spread coronavirus infections. The ploy backfired when Jill Karofsky trounced incumbent Judge Daniel Kelly in the principal state electoral contest, for a position on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Like most other state governors across the country, Evers issued a stay-at-home order in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But as the April 24 end date approached, Evers’s administration decided to extend the order until May 26.
Shortly after, Republican state lawmakers sued Evers and Andrea Palm, the state health secretary, arguing that such long-term impact on citizens’ lives should be decided in concert with the legislature.
