President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk are throwing their political and monetary weight into an election that will decide control of Wisconsin’s high court.
The face-off between conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford has garnered attention from both parties beyond the Badger State’s borders. The winner will fill the seventh seat on the state’s Supreme Court bench, vacated by one judge’s retirement, and determine if the court leans 4-3 conservative or liberal.
Combined, spending in the race has already surpassed the $51 million record for the country’s most expensive judicial election, set two years ago also in Wisconsin. That number this year could exceed $100 million.
The largest chunk of change has come from the pockets of the world’s richest man. Musk has gone all in on the swing state that Trump won by less than a point in 2024, dropping $19.3 million on the race, according to state campaign records.
That includes his $2 million gift to the state’s GOP last week, as well as spending by two groups tied to the billionaire. Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, and the political nonprofit he funds, Building America’s Future, have together contributed about $16 million towards boosting the right-leaning candidate’s campaign.
Musk’s message to Wisconsin voters: “Conservative Brad Schimel will support President Trump’s agenda!”
“Together, we won the White House,” a campaign flier, paid for by the America PAC, goes on to say. “Now it’s time to win the courthouse!”
Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Congressman Dave McCormick, Elon Musk and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan during the Division I Men’s Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
The race is being widely viewed as a must-win for Democrats who at the national level are still licking their 2024 election wounds, as well as a potential referendum on Trump and Musk. A recent Marquette Law School poll found Musk is viewed favorably by 41% of registered voters in Wisconsin and unfavorably by 53%.
The outcome will also decide whether Wisconsin’s top court leans left or right on a variety of hot button issues, including abortion, voter ID laws and congressional redistricting.
Trump himself is keeping close watch on the state, as well.
In a Truth Social post Friday that named and rebuked Crawford – “the handpicked voice of the Leftists,” according to Trump – the president called for Badger State voters to start showing up at polls for his party’s pick.
Former president Donald Trump speaks during a rally Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Nov. 1, 2024.
“And if she (Crawford) wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin,” Trump wrote. “All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel.”
Early voting in the state began two weeks out from Election Day, on Tuesday March 18.
While Musk has been by far the race’s biggest contributor, Democrats across the country have thrown their weight into the state election as well.
A contingent of deep-pocketed Democratic donors, including billionaire investor George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, have signed and sent checks. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin earlier this month announced “The People v. Elon Musk,” a seven-figure counterinitiative in response to the presidential ally’s outsized spending.
Dane County Judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Susan Crawford, left, Supreme Court candidate and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel respond to questions from WISN 12 Political Director Matt Smith during the WISN 12 Commitment 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Debate at the Lubar Center at Marquette University Law School’s Eckstein Hall, March 12, 2025 in Milwaukee.
Schimel has said previously that despite the record-breaking money and heightened attention pouring in from both sides, he is not “for sale.”
“People want to support you,” Schimel said at a forum last month. “It should be they’re supporting you because they like the things that you stand for, not because they’re buying some result.”
Contributing: Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, Musk go all in on Wisconsin state supreme court race
