The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday grappled with a case over whether the swing state’s nonpartisan election official, who was targeted by Republican lawmakers during the 2020 presidential election, can remain in her post despite not being reappointed and confirmed by the Senate .
Republicans who control the Senate tried to fire Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, last year, prompting the commission to file a lawsuit in an effort to keep Wolfe in office.
Wolfe validly holds her position as a holdover and the commission is not required to appoint anyone while she holds the position, argued Charlotte Gibson, an assistant attorney general representing the commission. Gibson said the state Supreme Court should uphold a lower court’s ruling in Wolfe’s favor, which would allow her to remain in her position and not face a Senate confirmation vote.
But the attorney for the Republican lawmakers argued that the committee should appoint an administrator, Wolfe or someone else, so the Senate can vote on that person’s confirmation.
When Wolfe was up for reappointment in 2023, all six members of the committee expressed their support for her. Three Republicans voted for reappointment, but the three Democrats abstained, resulting in an impasse. If Wolfe had received a fourth vote of support, her nomination would have been sent to the Senate, which could then have voted to remove her.
“The question here is: Can three commissioners essentially completely shut out the Senate forever?” Misha Tseytlin, an attorney for the Republican-controlled Legislature, argued Monday.
Tseytlin said three unelected “bureaucrats” on the committee held Wolfe’s appointment hostage.
“You’re trying to stick a needle in this that doesn’t have an eye,” said liberal Justice Janet Karofsky, pointing to a 2022 ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, then controlled by conservatives, that left Republican appointee Fred Prehn in the state’s Natural could stay. Resources Board past the end of its term.
“This is a matter of being careful what you wish for, isn’t it?” said Karofsky. “It seems to me that this has little to do with what the law actually says and much more to do with who is in these positions.”
Tseytlin argued that a key difference between the current lawsuit and the Prehn case is that the law requires the election board to appoint a successor when the director’s term expires. Wolfe’s term ended nearly seventeen months ago.
The Legislature is not asking the court to overturn the Prehn decision, which was criticized by Democrats including Gov. Tony Evers and said in a dissent by liberal Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet that it The “absurd” effect was that Prehn could remain in office indefinitely.
Although Wolfe’s nomination was not forwarded to the Senate, Republican senators voted to fire Wolfe in September 2023. The committee has filed a lawsuit challenging the Senate vote. Republican legislative leaders reversed course, claiming in lawsuits that their vote to fire Wolfe was only “symbolic” and had no legal effect.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Ann Peacock said in a 2023 ruling that Wolfe legally serves as a holdover election commission administrator since the commission did not have a majority vote to appoint her.
Republican leaders of the Legislature appealed, and the state Supreme Court will decide in weeks or months.
Wolfe was first appointed to the nonpartisan position in 2018 and was confirmed to a four-year term by the Republican Party-controlled Senate in 2019. The commission is overseen by a bipartisan board evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and Wolfe heads its nonpartisan staff.
Wolfe was targeted for removal by Republican lawmakers unhappy with the 2020 presidential election won by President Joe Biden. President-elect Donald Trump won Wisconsin this year, as he did in 2016. Unlike after his 2020 loss, supporters of Trump does not believe there is widespread fraud in this year’s elections.
Wolfe has been the subject of conspiracy theories and the target of threats from election skeptics who falsely claim she was part of a plot to rig the 2020 vote in Biden’s favor. Biden’s victory by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin withstood two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a review by a conservative law firm and multiple state and federal lawsuits.
Wolfe emphasized in a statement ahead of Monday’s court arguments that all six commissioners expressed support for her last year when they were deadlocked.
“While they disagreed on the mechanism for my appointment, the commissioners have always supported me remaining in this role,” Wolfe said. “If they didn’t, they always had the option to end my appointment and select someone new.”
Wolfe was asked about the case during a news conference the day after this month’s election and whether she was willing to stay in her position “for the long haul.” She hasn’t promised anything.
“I am fully committed to getting through this election and making sure this election is certified,” Wolfe said.
