Democrats are turning their energy to state supreme court elections in 2024 as battles over abortion, gerrymandering and other key issues go before state judges. “This is part of a general pattern in which as the U.S. Supreme Court increasingly dilutes its protections of what were once considered fundamental rights, the fights over the meaning of those rights shifts to state courts as well as state legislatures,” said Howard Schweber, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Taken together, the Supreme Court’s decisions have placed increasing importance on the state supreme court elections — and upping the stakes on consequential issues.