MILWAUKEE (CN) — Wisconsin could look markedly different after voters head to the polls April 1 to fill a vacancy that will determine the ideological balance of the state Supreme Court, as well as considering a referendum to preserve a strict voter ID law. Even billionaire Elon Musk is paying attention.
Spending on the state Supreme Court race has already surpassed $30 million, and Musk’s PACs are putting a finger on the scale that could break up the high court’s 4-3 liberal majority.
Plus, a proposed constitutional amendment that survived two legislatures could preserve a photo ID law that Democrats have been fighting for over a decade.
Although the high court race is officially nonpartisan, justices tend to lean liberal or conservative. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal and the first woman to be elected to the state’s court rather than appointed in 1995, will retire this year. Her tenure is the fifth-longest in the court’s 177-year history.
Two candidates are vying for Bradley’s seat on the spring ballot, and a large swath of voters still do not have an opinion about either candidate.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel is one of those candidates. On his website, he says justices have engaged in “dramatic overreach” and are “leading [the] state to destruction.”
Schimel is running on a conservative platform, highlighting his time as a prosecutor and his single term as Wisconsin’s attorney general. He has been endorsed by several police and firefighter associations, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, and the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
His opponent is Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford. Also a former prosecutor and former assistant attorney general, Crawford’s liberal platform rests on hot-button issues like abortion and workers rights, according to her website.
Crawford is endorsed by 177 current and former Wisconsin judges — including four out of the seven current state Supreme Court justices, several sheriffs, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Planned Parenthood and a handful of union organizations.
The state’s high court has tackled several cases recently with big implications, including the governor’s partial veto authority, two challenges to abortion law, worker’s rights policy, and election restrictions. If Schimel is elected, the outcome of these cases could look very different.
In 2023, the race between Justice Janet Protasiewicz and former Justice Daniel Kelly smashed records, ringing up to $51 million, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks spending for major elections.
Spending for Bradley’s seat on the bench has already surpassed $30 million, more than half of which was shelled out by political action committees, or PACs, and interest groups.
America PAC and Building America’s Future, both Musk-backed super PACs, have spent a total of $2,657,912 on critical ads targeting Crawford and $3,580,298 on positive ads and canvassing for Schimel, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
In all, the shadow campaign behind the election for the state Supreme Court is favoring Schimel. There is more pro-Schimel PAC spending than pro-Crawford, but that doesn’t mean she lacks high-profile support. Crawford has raised almost $3 million more than Schimel, much of that coming from her party.
Among registered voters, 38% still don’t have an opinion on Schimel, while 58% don’t have any opinion of Crawford.
As the U.S. Supreme Court tosses more culture war issues like abortion, gerrymandering, and election rules to the states to hash out, Professor Henrik Schatzinger says money is going to keep pouring in — for better or for worse.
Schatzinger, who teaches political science at Ripon College in central Wisconsin, has focused his studies in recent years on the role of money in state politics. He has found that while more money can translate into higher turnout, it’s more likely that people will be motivated by negative partisanship, or a dislike of the opposing candidate’s policy.
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