The billionaires have backed opposing candidates to fill the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s vacant seat.
Early voting in Wisconsin’s contentious state Supreme Court election began on March 18, thrusting the two candidates and their billionaire backers into the spotlight.
The contest is between Democrat-preferred Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford and the Republican-backed Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former attorney general.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court gained its first liberal majority in 15 years in 2023. Since then, the court has tossed Republican-drawn legislative maps and overturned a ruling that effectively banned absentee-ballot drop boxes.
The April 1 election will decide whether the court continues its leftward lean or flips back to a conservative majority, and donations from billionaires Elon Musk, George Soros, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have poured in to influence the race.
Groups funded by Musk donated more than $11 million to benefit Schimel’s campaign, while Crawford benefited from $1.5 million in donations from Soros and Pritzker.
At the candidates’ March 12 debate, Crawford charged that Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, had “basically taken over Brad Schimel’s campaign” by funding television ads and canvassing efforts.
She implied that the tech mogul’s interest in the race was personal, noting that his spending on the election began just days after his electric car company, Tesla, sued Wisconsin for blocking its opening of new dealerships there.
Schimel retorted: “If Elon Musk is trying to get some result in that lawsuit, he may be failing because I enforce the law and I respect the laws passed by the Legislature.”
Schimel vowed to hold anyone who defies Wisconsin law accountable, including, if the situation arises, President Donald Trump. He also pointed to Crawford’s donor list and said Soros was “a dangerous person to have an endorsement from.”
The candidates also sparred over their positions on abortion.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to rule on a challenge to an 1849 law banning most abortions in the state. While Crawford declined to say how she would rule on the issue, she noted that she was proud to have previously supported Planned Parenthood as an attorney. She also condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that there is no constitutional right to have an abortion.
Schimel, however, said he thinks the 1849 ban “was a validly passed law” but doesn’t believe it reflects the will of Wisconsin voters today. He contended that the voters should decide the future of abortion in the state, not the court.
Throughout the debate, Crawford repeatedly declined to share her position on issues. However, she did say she would “most likely” recuse herself from a case challenging a state law known as Act 10, which effectively ended collective bargaining in Wisconsin. As an attorney, Crawford sued to overturn the law.
Schimel vowed to defend Act 10 as attorney general. He did not say whether he would recuse himself in a hypothetical case involving the law.
On the eve of early voting, the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk rallied Republican support for Schimel, warning that a Crawford win would be a win for Democrats.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former Democratic nominee for vice president, and Eric Holder, a former U.S. attorney general, will hold their own events on March 18 to drum up support for Crawford.
Early voting is not available everywhere in Wisconsin and runs through March 30.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
