Posted March 18, 2025 | by KimS | in 2025 Elections, Abortion, Ballot Initiatives, Civil Rights, DemDaily, Democratic Party, Judicial, State Supreme Court, Supreme Court

DemDaily: War in Wisconsin

March 18, 2025

In perhaps the most consequential elections of 2025, voters in Wisconsin will determine the ideological balance of the state's Supreme Court for the critical battleground state.

The officially non-partisan race for a 10-year term is to succeed liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, the current longest-serving justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, who was first elected in 1995.

Dane County Circuit Court Susan Crawford (D) and former state’s Attorney General and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel (R) are squaring off in the upcoming April 1 general election. The top-two February 18 primary was canceled after only the two candidates filed to run.

The election, which could decide the fate of reproductive rights, voting rights and fair electoral maps in The Badger State, is the most expensive state supreme court race in US history, with the candidates and satellite groups having spent nearly $59 million.

The election, which could decide the fate of reproductive rights, voting rights and fair electoral maps in The Badger State, is the most expensive state supreme court race in US history, with the candidates and satellite groups having spent nearly $59 million.

The Background
Conservatives dominated the seven-seat bench for 15 years -- siding with Republican efforts to dismantle public unions, enhance voting restrictions and ban absentee voting ballot drop boxes.

In April 2023, however, the court flipped to liberal 4-3 control with the 55.5% to 44.5% win by Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz (D) over conservative former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly in the race to succeed retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack.

For the high-stakes election in one of the most crucial presidential swing states, candidates, political parties and outside interest groups poured more than $40 million into the race.

Protasiewicz's victory paved the way for reversing the ills of the court's conservative reign on abortion, voting rights, labor rights and redistricting.

In the December 2023 Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission ruling, the new court overturned Wisconsin's heavily gerrymandered, Republican-drawn state legislative maps -- enjoining the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the maps for the 2024 Wisconsin elections.

Abortion rights in Wisconsin still hang in the balance since the US Supreme Court overturned federally protected abortion rights under Roe v. Wade in June 2022 -- triggering an 1849 law in Wisconsin that bans all abortions.

Josh Kaul (D) -- who unseated incumbent Brad Schimel (R) as Wisconsin Attorney General by less than 1% in 2018, and was reelected in 2022 -- filed a lawsuit in June 2022, arguing that the 1849 law only applies to feticide and not consensual abortions. Access to abortion ceased for 15 months until a Dane County judge ruled in December 2023 that the law applies to feticide, not abortion, allowing providers to resume services.

Republicans appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in November 2024 and is expected to rule later this year. The High Court has also agreed to hear a second lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Of the current Wisconsin Supreme Court, Justices Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky, Protasiewicz, and Ann Walsh Bradley are considered liberals, while Justices Annette Ziegler, Rebecca Bradley and Brian Hagedorn are described as conservatives. Hagedorn has sided with the liberal justices as a swing-vote in several noteworthy cases.

Of the current Wisconsin Supreme Court, Justices Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky, Protasiewicz, and Ann Walsh Bradley are considered liberals, while Justices Annette Ziegler, Rebecca Bradley and Brian Hagedorn are described as conservatives. Hagedorn has sided with the liberal justices as a swing-vote in several noteworthy cases.

The Candidates
Prior to her 2018 election to the Dane County Circuit Court. Susan Crawford worked as Chief Legal Counsel to former Governor James Doyle (D) and in private practice on civil litigation and regulatory proceedings while remaining active as a lawyer for liberal causes.

She previously worked as an Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Appellate Unit before serving as a top advisor at the Wisconsin Department of Administration, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and Administrator of the Division of Enforcement and Science in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

As an attorney, Crawford represented teachers unions who attempted to overturn Act 10, a controversial law enacted in 2011 by Republican Governor Scott Walker that stripped most public workers of their collective bargaining rights. In December 2024, a Dane County Circuit Judge struck down Act 10, Appeals are expected to go before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Crawford also filed litigation in 2012 on behalf of the League of Women Voters to block Wisconsin's Voter ID law stipulating that "voters present valid photographic identification" to vote in any election. Question 1:An initiative to enshrine the law in the state's constitution is on the April 1 ballot -- which would prevent the Wisconsin Supreme Court from overturning the law in the future -- is on the April 1 ballot.

Brad Schimel, who began his career in 1990 as a Waukesha County Assistant Attorney General, was elected District Attorney in 2006 and re-elected without opposition in 2008, 2010, and 2012. He defeated Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ to become Wisconsin's 44th Attorney General in 2014, but was defeated by Kaul in 2018.

As Attorney General, Schimel attempted to revive restrictive abortion provisions requiring medical providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital -- as passed by the legislature in 2013's Act 37 and struck down by a federal judge that year. He unsuccessfully appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

In 2018, he helped lead a coalition of 20 states in filing a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act which was later dismissed for lack of legal standing.

A March 9-10, 2025 survey of Likely Voters by Republican firm OnMessage conducted for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, showed Crawford and Schimel in a dead heat at 47%-47% with 5% undecided (MOE: ±4.0%).

A March 9-10, 2025 survey of Likely Voters by Republican firm OnMessage conducted for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, showed Crawford and Schimel in a dead heat at 47%-47% with 5% undecided (MOE: ±4.0%).

The Billionaire Money War
As of March 12, candidates and outside groups had invested $25.5 million in backing Crawford, which includes a $1 million contribution from billionaire George Soros. That figure does not include a “seven-figure” effort pledged by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW), or the "historically-early investment into the Wisconsin Democratic coordinated campaign" announced today by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Of the $33.3 million in support for Schimel, top Trump advisor and world's richest man Elon Musk has contributed, through two Super PACs, more than $12,000,000. Wisconsin-based billionaires Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein have jointly contributed $850,000.

DemList will keep you informed.

'Related
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