Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general, faces off against Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford in an attempt to flip the court’s 4-3 liberal majority.
If Crawford wins, liberals will maintain their 4-3 majority until at least 2028. The current liberal majority was established when Janet Protasiewicz, who campaigned largely on the issue of abortion rights, won her election to the court in April 2023.
The race that year blew past national spending records in a judicial contest, with more than $51 million spent on both sides, based on a tally by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The group, which tracks spending on campaigns, is estimating that a new record will be set this year.
Wisconsin Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan, but political groups often support their preferred candidates. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has endorsed Crawford, while Schimel has backing from conservative lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
Recent January campaign finance reports showed Crawford raised $2.8 million from individual donors since getting into the race, compared to $2.0 million for Schimel.
The two candidates in this year’s race have raised more money so far than at the same point in the 2023 campaign.
Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-linked conservative PAC, has already poured $1.2 million into independent expenditures supporting Schimel, according to a Daily Cardinal analysis of campaign finance reports. In comparison, Americans for Prosperity only spent around $820,000 advocating for conservative candidate Daniel Kelly in total during the previous contest.
Independent expenditures are spending that advocates for or against a candidate through communications such as advertisements — without coordination with any candidate, their campaign or political party. Political Action Committees (PACs) can receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs, unlike official campaigns with spending limits.
Spending by the Democratic and Republican parties and PACs is expected to far exceed what the candidates spend.
The winner of the April 1 election will serve a 10-year term on the bench.
Ty Javier is a senior staff writer and photographer at The Daily Cardinal. He is an Economics major and has specialized in university and campaign finances, economic policy and transit.
