Kansas voters will decide Tuesday whether to elect state Supreme Court justices rather than have the governor appoint them, a push from conservatives who have chafed for years over court decisions they disagreed with on issues such as abortion, school funding and the death penalty.
If the constitutional amendment passes, supporters hope to elect at least four conservative, anti-abortion justices to the seven-member court by 2033.
Kansas is considering the change amid concerns that increasingly contentious and expensive judicial elections in other states are making their courts more partisan and less independent. Spending in a single state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin last year topped $100 million.
One lesson everyone should learn is anything you do in politics can eventually bite you in the ass.
When Harry Reid ended the fillibuster for (non-Supreme Court) judicial appointments in 2013, Mitch the Cocaine Turtle admonished “you’ll regret this and maybe sooner than you think”. Smashcut fast-forward and he was able to manipulate court appointments.
Likewise there are now some Republicans who want to nuke the fillibuster entirely to ram through the elections bill. Well what do they think is going to happen in a few years when they no longer have a majority? Dems will also be able to ram through anything and everything with a bare majority.
Same thing with these state level initiatives. There is no way to create a “magic tool” that your opponent can’t also use against you eventually.
They don’t think there will be any more elections