By Leif Le Mahieu. Media: DailyWire.com
Wisconsin voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the ideological slant of the State Supreme Court, bringing to a close the most expensive state judicial race in history.
The race — between conservative candidate Brad Schimel and liberal Judge Susan Crawford — will have nationwide consequences, as Democrats are expected to challenge Wisconsin’s current congressional maps if Crawford wins. The outcome could also determine how the court rules on abortion, voter identification laws, and union reforms.
Schimel, the former Republican Attorney General of Wisconsin, said in a recent interview that he is running to save the court from activist judges like Crawford, saying the court has turned into the “most dangerous” body in state government under its current 4-3 liberal majority.
“I didn’t plan to run for Wisconsin Supreme Court, but in 2023 the liberals took over our court by promising how they were going to rule on cases and then they’ve been delivering on that. They have been going through a checklist of a political agenda,” he said.
“My opponent is their handpicked choice to select a liberal that’s retiring, and she’s gone so far on the campaign trail and promised to liberal national donors that if she gets elected, she will take out two Republican congressional seats and turn those into Democrat congressional seats.”
Schimel was referring to Crawford’s appearance on a January fundraising call which billed the Supreme Court race as a “chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.”
Democrats believe that if Crawford wins on Tuesday, they will be able to get the Supreme Court to order maps more favorable to their party. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed that perspective last week on X.
“There are gerrymandered congressional lines right now in Wisconsin,” Jeffries said. “As soon as possible, we need to be able to revisit that and have fair lines. The only way for that to be even a significant possibility is if you have an enlightened Supreme Court.”
That prospect has drawn major donations to the race, and sparked action from Elon Musk, who has been actively urging voters in Wisconsin to back the conservative candidate.
“Vote for Superjudge Brad Schimel in Wisconsin on Tuesday!! The Republican House majority is razor-thin and the Democrats want to redraw Wisconsin districts to flip the House and stop the government reforms,” Musk posted on X on Sunday.
A record-breaking $90 million has reportedly been poured into the race, pitting leftist megadonors like George Soros and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker against Musk, whose America PAC has been very active in the race. The spending total broke the previously-held record for most expensive state judicial race, when liberals first flipped control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2023.
Musk held a town hall on Sunday evening with Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R.), where he gave out $1 million each to two people who had signed a petition circulated by his PAC opposing activist judges. Any registered Wisconsin voter who signed the petition got $100, mirroring a similar strategy Musk rolled out in swing states during the 2024 presidential election.
Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul attempted to stop Musk’s giveaway over the weekend, but was unsuccessful.
Musk’s America PAC’s ads targeting Crawford have focused on her record as a judge giving light sentences to sex offenders. One spot highlighted a case where she sentenced a man convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls in a pool to just four years in prison, well below what prosecutors had requested and the maximum penalty that could have been imposed.
When asked about the case, Crawford said that she doesn’t “regret” the decision, asserting that she followed the law.
Crawford has decried Musk’s involvement in the race, claiming that Schimel will be a rubber-stamp for Musk and President Donald Trump.
Crawford is currently a judge in liberal Dane County, but has a history of liberal advocacy. Before becoming a judge, she worked as a lawyer for Planned Parenthood, sued to stop the state’s voter ID laws, and filed a lawsuit against Act 10, a Republican-backed measure that enacted serious reforms for government unions.
The early vote total has reportedly passed 500,000. Republicans will likely need high Election Day turnout for Schimel to win, as Trump narrowly won the state in 2024 by about 30,000 votes. In the 2023 Supreme Court election, the Republican-backed candidate lost by over 10 points.
Conservative groups like SBA Pro-Life America and CatholicVote have urged Trump supporters to show in force for Schimel.
“President Trump carried Wisconsin in his swing-state sweep because of Catholics. Trump earned a huge double digit Catholic voter win, putting him over the top in the tight race in the Badger state,” CatholicVote senior political advisor Steve Cortes told The Daily Wire. “Now, we encourage those same voters to come out for the state Supreme Court race, because of the wide implications that will flow from this election.”
Trump, who endorsed Schimel, has said that the future of the country could be at stake in the election.
“It’s a very important race, actually,” Trump said last week. “I know you feel it’s local, but it’s not. It’s really much more than local. The whole country is watching.”
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