It makes me cringe to even say it, but I am increasingly worried that Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley is going to win this April.

This past week, state media outlets, opinion columnists and liberal groups have lambasted Bradley for columns she wrote as a college student at Marquette.

In those columns, she suggested a number of rather crass and heinous things about homosexuals and making a number of bizarrely hateful comments about HIV and AIDS issues.

Wisconsin justice under fire for homophobic comments made in college newspaper

New information indicates that Bradley apparently represented a man she was having an extramarital affair with during her time as a private attorney. The case revolved around child placement, and the ex-wife of Bradley’s paramour objected to Bradley’s role in the case.

So to be clear, the woman who had once likened gay people to degenerates is also the one who had had an extramarital affair with a married man and then represented him in his own child’s placement case.

But what everyone keeps forgetting is that this whole thing probably has very little impact on Bradley’s chances of winning in April.

This is because Republicans are going to vote for the conservative candidate no matter what. Regardless of what she says or does, many conservatives in this state will vote for anyone who will toe the party line, just like many Democrats would in the same situation.

But there are two other factors many also seem to be forgetting.

For one, the election takes place the same day of the Presidential primaries.

Voter turnout will be higher for the Republicans, solely because the stakes for establishment Republicans are far higher than for Democrats.

Both establishment Republicans and Trump voters will attempt to outdo each other in the state, resulting in what could be record numbers for a Republican primary in Wisconsin.

The same way that many Trump supporters refuse to acknowledge Trump’s constant lying due to the “lies of the liberal media,” they will just assume the media are twisting things to make Bradley look bad.

But Bradley’s advantage doesn’t stop there.

While Republican turnout will likely be incredibly high, I predict that Democratic turnout is at near Wisconsin lows.

This of course is due to the implementation of Wisconsin’s new voter ID law.

To vote or not to vote: Many still unaware of voter photo ID law

That’s right, this is a friendly, slightly irritated reminder that a voter ID law passed in Wisconsin.

Every independent voter who may be swayed by Bradley’s brutal comments will likely only fill the void of the thousands of voters who will be turned away from the polls due to lack of sufficient ID.

Among those turned away will likely be large contingents of city and student voters, which both tend to be strongholds for Democrats.

Given that Republicans in this state have done astoundingly little to publicize the need for a specific type of ID or the places to get one, it would not be shocking to see Bradley win by a fairly high percentage.

So, while it is nice to think that the stars have aligned and may give Joanne Kloppenburg the edge, recent Wisconsin politics just don’t give me much hope.

Not only will Republicans have an advantage from pure turnout, they will have many voters who don’t believe Bradley’s portrayal in the “mainstream media.” Even after that, the Republicans still have voter ID legislation in their pocket to ensure a win.

What a brutal time to be a liberal running for statewide office in Wisconsin.

Connor Touhey ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism, political science and history.