The importance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was made apparent in the most recent presidential election, and while it does not get the headlines of a national election, it could be just as important.
That is the reason Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head and billionaire Elon Musk is getting involved in the election for a new justice this time around, WISPolitics reported.
America PAC, a political action committee founded by the SpaceX and Tesla CEO to support President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, is spending $1 million to back conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel’s canvassing and field operations.
His opponent is liberal judge Susan Crawford and whoever takes the race will decide the balance of power on the important swing state’s highest court.
Another Musk-backed group, Building America’s Future, purchased $1.5 million in commercials to support the conservative candidate.
“Elon Musk is buying off Brad Schimel,” Crawford complained last week in a post on the Musk-owned X in which she solicited funds from supporters.
“Schimel has been an extreme politician his entire career, and he’ll use the Supreme Court to push his own right-wing agenda,” she said.
But the conservative candidate dismissed those claims in a press conference on Thursday.
“I’ve never met nor talked to Elon Musk,” he said. “No one from my team has ever talked to anyone from Elon Musk’s team. He hasn’t asked me for anything, and I haven’t told him I would do anything.”
Meanwhile, as she complains about Musk’s wealth and influence, CNN reported that Crawford received checks from billionaires, including Goerge Soros, in a campaign that was anticipated to break records.
“It’s going to be a blockbuster,” University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Barry Burden said to CNN.
The state is split between a Democrat governor and a Republican legislature, so the Supreme Court “is the center of the action,” he said. “It’s become a place where a lot of hot-button issues people care about get decided.”
Democrats are panicking about the possibility of a battleground state court aligned with Trump. Even former Vice President Kamala Harris’ team has gotten involved in a fundraising email to Crawford supporters.
“Wisconsin Democrats need our help to fight back,” the email said. “We don’t have Elon Musk, but we do have lots and lots of folks who care who are willing to chip in a few bucks where and when they can.”
No, they only have Soros and other billionaires who have supported Crawford, but making Musk into a “boogeyman” is likely to assist them in raising funds.
“Courts are one of the only checks of the Trump administration’s power,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said to CNN. “Having a MAGA state Supreme Court in a state like Wisconsin would be disastrous.”
Republicans also know the importance of the state Supreme Court campaign.
“This open seat is really going to determine if we’re going to have a court that is run by activist liberal idealogues or if we’re going to have a court that’s going to have a majority of constitutional conservatives who interpret the law as its written and not how they wish it was written,” Republican state Rep. Tyler August, Wisconsin’s State Assembly majority leader, said to CNN.
“We just won the state for Trump,” Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said. “Our people our pretty jacked up, pretty excited. That has rolled over into this race. I think certainly our grassroots understand what the stakes are in this race.”
Democratic National Committee deputy communications director Abhi Rahman said that the Party will be very active in the campaign.
“The DNC is all hands on deck to turbocharge the coordinated campaign on the ground,” he said. “Voters don’t want Elon Musk in the White House and they certainly don’t want him buying our elections. We will fight like hell to ensure that the Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to represent all Wisconsinites and isn’t bought and paid for by out-of-touch billionaires.”
