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“A race for an open seat on Wisconsin's top court will be an early test of the Trump administration's popularity in a political swing state… The contest between liberal Susan Crawford, a county judge, and conservative Brad Schimel, a county judge and former Republican state attorney general, is technically non-partisan, but that has not stopped Democrats and Republicans from going all in. Both state parties have lined up behind their favored candidates, and Trump endorsed Schimel [last] Friday…
“More than $81 million had been spent with a week to go, according to New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, far outstripping the $55 million spent in the state's last Supreme Court campaign in 2023, when the court's ideological balance was also at stake. About $46 million has come from Schimel's campaign or groups backing him, compared with $35.5 million for Crawford…
“Two super PACs affiliated with [Elon] Musk have spent $17.5 million to support Schimel… Musk's America PAC, or political action committee, offered $100 to voters who signed a petition opposing activist judges.” Reuters
“Musk on Sunday [also] handed out million-dollar checks to two voters in Wisconsin… Wisconsin's attorney general, Democrat Josh Kaul, sued to block the giveaway but the state supreme court ruled it could go ahead.” Reuters
The left urges voters to support Crawford.
“The fate of democracy is not an abstract issue in Wisconsin. The state supreme court came one vote short of overturning the election in 2020, when Trump tried to throw out 221,000 votes only in the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Dane Counties. Crawford, who lives in Madison, took that personally. ‘My ballot was one of the ones they were trying to throw out,’ she says. ‘So I was very disturbed by that.’”
Ari Berman, Mother Jones
“As attorney general, Schimel aggressively defended [Gov. Scott] Walker’s attacks on labor rights, voting rights, and abortion, and the 2011 redistricting maps, which were drafted in secret at the behest of Republican legislative leaders and produced one of the most extreme partisan gerrymanders in the country… Last Halloween, he dressed up as Trump and, more recently, he posed below a giant Trump inflatable at a Mega MAGA rally…
“Musk has a personal stake in the outcome, too. Last year [Tesla] filed an application with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to open four dealerships in the state… In 2009, the state’s largest business lobby, along with the Wisconsin Realtors Association, drafted the court’s recusal rules, which were adopted, verbatim, by the conservative-controlled court. They explicitly state that judges are not obligated to recuse themselves from cases involving a campaign contributor.”
Dan Kaufman, New Yorker
“It’s not just gimmicks like Elon Musk’s offer of $100… Musk and other megadonors have blown past previous spending records in a way that threatens a new American oligarchy…
“When Musk, for example, seeks to spend significant sums to influence the outcome of [this election], or when Nicole Shanahan (RFK Jr.’s running mate for president) threatens to fund super PACs supporting Republican candidates to challenge incumbent senators who do not support Trump’s Cabinet nominees for confirmation, money can be much more influential [than in presidential elections]…
“More important is what the money buys… Musk has gained unprecedented access to Trump and unparalleled influence over the new administration… Right after coming into office, Trump gave TikTok a reprieve, something that benefited supportive megadonor Jeff Yass… All of this portends the rise of an American oligarchy, in which the richest individuals have an outsize influence on politics and public policy.”
Richard L. Hasen, Slate
“After the Supreme Court began dismantling the campaign finance system with the 2010 decision in Citizens United, corporations and the wealthy have found more and more creative ways to spend money on elections. Giving voters cash directly is just cutting out the middlemen of campaign consultants and ad makers… But is this how we want to run our democracy, by dangling cash in front of voters?”
Ryan Teague Beckwith, MSNBC
The right urges voters to support Schimel.
The right urges voters to support Schimel.
“If Judge Susan Crawford beats Republican ex-Attorney General Brad Schimel, the court will have the liberal votes to order (partisan) congressional redistricting and impose a raft of rulings that supersede laws passed democratically… The left has its eye on overturning at least one key law, Act 10 — which bans collective bargaining for public employees — since it can’t get the Legislature to rescind it via democratic means…
“The pro-union left has been trying (and failing) to roll back Act 10 ever since it passed in 2011. That law produced critical cost savings that helped Wisconsin close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. And voter support for it is a big reason why Republicans control both the Wisconsin Senate (18-15) and Assembly (54-45)…
“So Dems are again looking to the court to bypass popular will. Crawford actually boasts of how she’s ‘fought against Act 10.’ (Another top-court justice, Janet Protasiewicz, refuses to recuse herself, even though she’s marched against the law.)”
Editorial Board, New York Post
“There’s a lot more at stake than Wisconsin politics. Early big money backers of Crawford, like George Soros and Reid Hoffman, recognized the potential of using the court to regain control of the US House and stop President Trump’s legislative agenda in its tracks. That’s because the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be ruling on challenges to congressional districts, where Republicans hold six of the eight seats. Redistricting could net Democrats two extra seats, and control of Congress…
“Soros saw an early opportunity, and donated $1 million directly to Crawford’s campaign… Remember Soros funded the election of soft-on-crime prosecutors around the country who’ve destroyed many large cities to advance the left-wing agenda. Soros even donated to a group backing New York City’s own Alvin Bragg, who did the left’s dirty work in prosecuting Trump. Crawford’s campaign has raised a record-breaking $24 million to date. And that doesn’t include PAC money. Now Republicans are waking up and pushing back.”
William A. Jacobson and Kemberlee Kaye, New York Post
“Mr. Musk’s lottery is a play to get voters hyped about the election, a tactic he used before November’s presidential race… Progressives say the petition is meant to motivate low-propensity voters who tend to stay home in spring elections, but so what? Democrats have given the Musk gambit even more publicity by wallpapering social media with the accusation that he’s trying to buy votes…
“The progressive goal is to elect a state Supreme Court that will rewrite state law against everything from Act 10 to abortion to Congressional electoral maps. Democrats are betting that progressive animus against Donald Trump and Mr. Musk will carry the day, but Wisconsin voters should know the real stakes are who will write the law—judges or legislators.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
