Karofsky to be sworn in during 100-mile run

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-elect Jill Karofsky is set to be sworn into office Saturday 35 miles into a 100 mile ultramarathon. 

Karofsky will start her run at 6 a.m. and seven hours later will arrive at an outdoor, socially distanced swearing in ceremony with Justice Rebecca Dallet, former Gov. Jim Doyle and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. 

Dallet will swear in her new colleague, Doyle and Barnes will make brief remarks and then Karofsky will run 65 more miles. The full ultramarathon will take her about 30 hours to complete. 

Karofsky was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April when she defeated conservative incumbent Daniel Kelly in the state’s controversial spring election. Karofsky’s win was the first time in 12 years an incumbent justice lost a reelection campaign. 

Once she is sworn in, the court’s conservative control will shift from 5-2 to 4-3. 

In the nearly four months since the election, Kelly, as a lame duck justice, has played a crucial role in several important decisions, most notably in the court’s 4-3 decision to strike down Gov. Tony Evers stay-at-home order to control the spread of COVID-19. 

Karofsky’s ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. The location of the event is only being shared with invited guests to keep attendance low to control the spread of COVID-19.