The last time it was held by Weskonsen elections for the Supreme Court of the state, Republicans cried wrong About a wave of money from Democrats outside the country that overwhelmed their candidate.
Two years later, the Republicans learned their lesson. It is the Democrats who wrestle with a flood of external money that overwhelms Wesconsen.
Super Pac funded Elon Musk only last week 2.3 million dollars spent text messages, digital advertisements and paid population to remind Republicans in Wisconsin on the April 1 elections, which motivate Brad Shimel, a judge in Wakisha Province, and a former Republican state lawyer, against Suzan Crawford, a Dan County judge who represents family planning and other reasons Liberalism in its own practice.
The spending of Mr. Musk, the technical billionaire that leads President Trump’s project to abolish large segments of the federal government, comes at a time when Judge Shamel and his Republican allies spent more money on television advertisements than Judge Krufford and Democrat In recent years.
“When I was a little girl who grew up in Chiboy waterfalls, I never imagined that I would fight the richest man in the world,” Judge Kraovord said to the weekend in a campaign in Cambridge.
As of Monday, the Republicans spent $ 13.9 million from the time of the Wisconsin Court TV, compared to $ 10.7 million for Democrats, according to ADIMPACT, a media tracking company. Since a larger part of Republican spending comes from Super Pacs, which pays a higher average of TV ads than candidates, the amount of advertisement on broadcasting waves in Wisconsin has been almost equal. But heavy Republican spending canceled what was a great advantage for Democrats in the last competition, in 2023.
Mr. Musk’s digital advertisements and the remaining literature in the Republican homes have been designed so far to remind Trump’s voters – who have been less historically than Democrats to vote outside the presidential elections – to vote. “President Trump needs to go out and vote,” read one of the bulletins, which did not mention Judge Shemil but attacked Judge Kruvord.
Brian Shimmining, Chairman of the Wisconsin Board of Directors, said that Judge Shamemil is likely to win if 60 percent of Mr. Trump’s voters turned.
The Wisconsin race risks are enormous, just as it was in 2023. The winning side will hold a majority to three majority in the state’s Supreme Court, which is expected to make decisions on abortion, reach voting, and the collective bargaining of the state laws and Congress maps.
If Judge Cruford is elected for 10 years, the liberals will reinforce the majority until at least 2028. However, Judge Shamel Said, the conservative will control the court, with the majority to seize it again in 2026 and 2027, when the seats are now the conservative judges will come to the elections.
Republicans were arrested in 2023.
Judge Janet Protasiewicz, the liberal candidate that year, He spent more than four times a lot As her conservative opponent, Daniel Kelly, and He won 11 percentage pointsWisconsin standards in a competition that turned against the ideological control of the court for the first time in 15 years.
Although the state’s judicial races are officially not partisan, the Democratic Party in Wisconsin supported the judge, the state, while Mr. Kelly, a former judge in the state’s Supreme Court, had he had It lost a re -election offer in 2020She refused to support the Republican Party in the state, who had no very few money that conservative donors did not trust.
Democratic funds flowed into the race as it had not happened before. With more than $ 50 million in spending, it became the most expensive judicial competition in American history. Red Hoffman, co -founder of the billionaire LinkedIn, gave the state’s Democratic Party $ 2.5 million, which was later transferred to the Protasiewicz campaign. (Mr. Hoffman gave another $ 7.4 million to Democrats in Wisconsin in 2024, when the state was a higher presidential battlefield.)
The state’s campaign financing law allows donors to give unlimited amounts to state parties, which in turn can transfer unlimited amounts to their accredited candidates.
Now, however, some main democratic donors Adhere to their governor. In 2023, Mr. Hoffmann donated a relatively small amount of $ 250,000 to the Supreme Court of this year at a time when he was retracting his political activity. Governor JB Pritzker donated from Illinois, who provided a million dollars to the judicial competition two years ago, $ 500,000. (George Soros, who gave a million dollars in 2023, did so again last month.)
Bin Waykler, Chairman of the Democratic Board of Directors in Wisconsin, said that the pace of spending on Judge Kroford was ahead of the place where the justice was spent in the justice race in the 2023 race, and this is largely due to the small donations. Judge Kroford has received more individual contributions since Mr. Musk’s initial contributions last week than she did in the entire campaign until that stage, according to her spokesperson for her campaign, Derek Haniman.
“What can I do to fight against Donald Trump and Elon Musk? “The answer to this question is Suzan Crawford’s support for Brad Shemel.”
For the Republicans in the state of Wisconsin, Mr. Musk has effectively given the permission of other right -wing donors to invest in the race, said Mr. Shimmingh, who regretted that the Republicans did not consist of the 2023 race and allowed Mr. Kelly to spoil on TV air waves.
Republican donors who rejected the State Party and then wandering now. Richard and Elizabeth Oilin, billionaires in Illinois who are among the most conservative donors in the country, made $ 1.3 million to the party to help a race.
“The tragic Dan Kelly race, as it was, provides us with a recent example of what is happening in court races when there is no appropriate attention to them,” said Mr. Shimmining. “Although I lived in Wisconsin all my life, I have no problem writing notes thanks to the five -year mailing symbols. I can do it all day.”
For his part, Mr. Kelly said in an interview on Tuesday that he “does not regret” about his campaign for 2023 and expressed regret for the impact of millions of dollars that flow through political parties to candidates for the Supreme Court.
“I am very uncomfortable with political parties that make great contributions to judicial candidates,” he said. “When you see these unlimited political contributions, I do not know how people are supposed to think that politics will not play a role in what the court is doing.”
