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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Rep. Dan Knodl’s win in an April 5, 2023 special election for Wisconsin’s 8th District Senate seat gave the GOP a supermajority in that body. A supermajority means Republicans have at least two-thirds (66%) of votes, or 22 of the Senate’s 33 seats. 

The Senate’s supermajority means it can remove state officials impeached in the Wisconsin Assembly for “corrupt conduct in office or for the commission of a crime or misdemeanor.”  

Republicans have a majority in the Assembly, which is the required amount to impeach an official. They currently hold 64 of 99 Assembly seats — just short of the two-thirds required to override Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes.

As a member of the Assembly, Knodl said he would “consider” voting to impeach Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz. However, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said there are no plans to remove anyone unless they do “something very serious.”

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

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Sources

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dan Knodl wins 8th Senate District race, giving Republicans a key majority

Wisconsin Public Radio Conservative wins in Wisconsin’s 8th Senate District, securing GOP impeachment power

Wisconsin Watch Can a majority in the Wisconsin Assembly impeach elected officials?

WISN ‘UPFRONT’ recap: Supermajority in Senate at stake in 8th district special election

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Jacob Alabab-Moser / Wisconsin WatchFact Checker

Jacob Alabab-Moser joined as Wisconsin Watch’s fact checker in September 2022, as part of the effort by The Gigafact Project in partnership with different state-level news outlets to combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections. Jacob has several years of experience as a fact checker and research assistant at a variety of organizations, including at The Gigafact Project. He holds a BA from Brown University and is pursuing a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.