Jill Karofsky
Jill Judith Karofsky is an American attorney and jurist from Madison, Wisconsin. She is the 29th and current chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a position she has held since July 1, 2025. She has been a justice of the court since 2020, when she 2020 [Wisconsin Supreme Court election|defeated] incumbent justice Daniel Kelly. Before being elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Karofsky served three years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Dane County. Earlier in her career, she served as an assistant district attorney in Dane County, and an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Early life and legal career
Jill Karofsky was born on July 15, 1966, in Middleton, Wisconsin. During her childhood, her mother—Judy Karofsky—served as mayor of Middleton, and served several years on the city council; Jill's father, Peter Karofsky, was 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 received her Bachelor of Arts in 1988. Karofsky received her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1992. She married attorney Jason Knutson in July 1998, though they later divorced.Karofsky entered civil service as a deputy district attorney for Dane County. She has also served in the Wisconsin Department of Justice as Assistant Attorney General working as Wisconsin's Violence Against Women resource prosecutor, and later leading the Office of Crime Victim Services.
Judicial career
In 2017, Karofsky was elected as a judge on the Dane County Circuit Court, beating municipal judge Marilyn Townsend by 15 points.Three years later, 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 and was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Karofsky was endorsed by over 100 current and former Wisconsin judges, including incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet. She also received endorsements from 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, Karofsky was endorsed by both the remaining 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidates—former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
The election became the most expensive judicial race in Wisconsin history up to that time, with the campaigns raising a combined $10 million. During the campaign, Karofsky was the target of television attack ads funded by supporters of her opponent Daniel Kelly. 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. Karofsky was not placed on the case as a prosecutor until a year after the deal was struck. 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. The nonprofit fact checking site PolitiFact included the false claims against Karofsky in its yearly "Pants on Fire" review for 2020.
On April 13, 2020, Karofsky was declared the winner of the election, taking roughly 55% of the vote. She took office on August 1, 2020, and became 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.
In keeping with her marathon hobby, on August 1, 2020, Karofsky was sworn into office following the thirty-fifth mile of an "ultramarathon," by Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet in a ceremony also attended by former governor Jim Doyle. She then ran another sixty-five miles.