Jill Karofsky

Judge Karofsky challenged incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly in Wisconsin's 2020 election. Kelly had been appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican then-Governor Scott Walker in 2016. Kelly was also endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Judge Karofsky was endorsed by over 100 current and former Wisconsin judges, including incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet. She was also endorsed by U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, former governor Jim Doyle, and former U.S. senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl. In the final days before the election, Judge Karofsky also received the endorsement of both the remaining 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidates—former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

Karofsky was the target of attack ads funded by supporters of her opponent Daniel Kelly, which aired on television in late March 2020. The ads falsely claimed Karofsky, as deputy district attorney, struck a plea deal with a man charged with sexual assault of a minor resulting in no jail time. On March 27, 2020, Karofsky's campaign announced intent to file a cease and desist order against the ads. On April 6, 2020, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Witkowiak blocked Karofsky's injunction against the ads on the grounds of unlawful prior restraint.

Due to the coronavirus-related disruptions, the election results for the April 7 election were not compiled or released until nearly a week later. On April 13, 2020, Judge Karofsky was declared the winner of the election, taking roughly 55% of the vote. She will take office on August 1, 2020 and become the ninth woman in Wisconsin history to serve on the state's high court. Karofsky's upset election has been cited by Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee Chair, as being indicative of the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The state supreme court election was significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature refused attempts to move the election or expand the time frame for accepting absentee ballots, and disputes over the election ultimately had to be settled by the state Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Republicans along party lines. Voter turnout was 34.3% with absentee ballots accounting for about 71% of the total. This was considerably lower than the 47.4% turnout for the April 2016 elections.

Jill Judith Karofsky (born July 15, 1966) is an American attorney, judge, and justice-elect of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Karofsky has served as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge in Dane County since 2017.

Jill Judith Karofsky was born on July 15, 1966, in south-central Wisconsin to Judith (Judy) Frances Deutsch Karofsky, a three-year (1972 – 1975) former Middleton, Wisconsin, city council member and former city mayor (1975 – 1977), and her then-husband Peter Stuart Karofsky, a pediatrician. Karofsky was a state tennis champion while at Middleton High School, where she graduated in 1984. She later played Division I sports for Duke University, where she completed her undergraduate degree. Karofsky received her juris doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison, Wisconsin. She married future attorney Jason Joel Knutson in July 1998. They later divorced.