Republicans Have Mastered This One Weird Trick For Dealing With Judges They Don't Like - Balls and Strikes

[In It to Win It]

Balls and Strikes

As Republican state legislatures have pursued ever more extreme policies on issues like abortion, gender-affirming care, and voting rights, they have occasionally run into a surprising obstacle: conservative supreme courts, which have dealt Republicans in several states a string of high-profile losses on key conservative priorities. In response, Republican-controlled legislatures have supercharged their efforts to bring these courts to heel. Whether by expanding supreme courts, stacking judicial selection commissions, or changing judicial selection mechanisms altogether, these red states have become innovators in ensuring that only Republican priorities receive the protection of the law.

A newer front in this assault on constitutional democracy involves pushing legislation that channels politically sensitive litigation into courtrooms in which judges are more favorable to conservative outcomes. Republican lawmakers in Kansas have been particularly brazen, and in February, they introduced a bill that, going forward, would force all election law challenges into a GOP-friendly court.

Normally, plaintiffs in Kansas (and anywhere else) must file lawsuits in the district in which the conflict arose, or in which one of the parties resides. Kansas House Bill 2569 would change this default rule, requiring people to bring any constitutional challenges to state election laws in Shawnee County District Court.

Clay Barker, general counsel to Secretary of State Scott Schwab, said that the bill’s purpose is to curb “forum shopping” by voting rights groups. Representative Pat Proctor, a Republican, singled out the American Civil Liberties Union, Loud Light, the League of Women Voters of Kansas, and Kansas Appleseed as some of the alleged perpetrators. One proponent who testified in support of the bill argued that designating specific venues for election cases would enable judges to develop a special expertise in election law.

Republican state lawmakers can't stop changing the rules when state courts issue rulings that make them upset

— Balls & Strikes (@ballsandstrikes.org) 2026-02-19T19:03:19.705Z

[Walleye]

1. They are so sure everything will go to the Supreme Court who will rule in their favor. They ignore lower court orders.

It’s lawlessness on a mass scale