Fight over Supreme Court next for state
Parties seek ideological control of body in spring
MADISON – In the weeks following the November general election that saw Wisconsin choose both Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin the state will now shift its focus to a spring race that will will determine the state Supreme Court’s ideological balance.
In April, liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford is expected to face off against Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general. No other candidates have entered the race.
Crawford and Schimel are vying for the seat being vacated by liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, the court’s current longestserving justice. Her retirement sets up another battle for control of the state’s highest court just two years after more than $50 million was poured into a race that created a liberal majority for the first time in more than a decade. As she departs, the same partisan interests are expected to create another expensive battle for control of the court.
Announcing her retirement plans, Walsh Bradley, who has served on the court since 1995, said “it’s just time to pass the torch (and) bring fresh perspectives to the court.”
Schimel was elected to lead the state Department of Justice in 2014 and lost his 2018 reelection bid to Democrat Josh Kaul by less than a percentage point the same year Democratic Gov. Tony Evers defeated Republican former Gov. Scott Walker. Before leaving office, Walker appointed Schimel to the Waukesha County Circuit Court.
Before being elected to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2018, Crawford was a partner with the Pines Bach law firm, where she worked on cases related to voting rights and represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in a case that sought to expand abortion access. Prior to that, she worked as a prosecutor and as legal counsel in state government.
Crawford was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Nov. 20. In a statement. DPW chairman Ben Wikler said the state’s high court had made “significant progress
in restoring the fairness and impartiality of the court that was lost under the previous far-right majority, striking down unconstitutional legislative maps, increasing access to the ballot box, and restoring balance in a previously unchecked Legislature.”
Republian Party of Wisconsin chairman Brian Schimming said “it’s no surprise that Dane County liberal activist Susan Crawford received the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.”
“In April 2025, Wisconsinites will have the opportunity to restore the rule of law by flipping the state Supreme Court,” Schimming said.
Liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court. During her 2023 campaign, Justice Janet Protasiewicz put reproductive health access front and center, announcing in TV ads that she supported abortion rights. She defeated former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly by 11 percentage points.
Since Protasiewicz joined the court, the new liberal majority majority ordered new electoral maps that narrowed Republicans’ longtime majority in the state Legislature. The court also will soon determine the future of abortion access in the state, grounded in a challenge to a 19th Century law that was thought to almost entirely ban it.
In a statement, the Schimel campaign said “leftist judges in Wisconsin and around the country are failing to enforce our laws,” and called the Nov. 5 election “a repudiation of the left’s radical agenda that made life more dangerous and expensive for Wisconsinites.”
“From opening the border, to releasing criminals on our streets, to rogue judges on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court breaking norms to advance their radical agenda. Brad Schimel is a judge of the people who will stop the madness and defend what is right,” the statement said.
The Schimel campaign painted Crawford as a candidate who would cater to the “elites in Madison.”
“The liberal overreach of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has done enough damage in a short span — Brad Schimel will fix it,” the campaign said.
Crawford, the Schimel campaign said, would use her position on the state’s high court as a “liberal rubber stamp” who could lead the court to rule in favor of curbing or eliminating the state’s school voucher program and its 2015 law banning private companies from requiring non-unionized workers to pay dues to their workplace union, known as “right to work.”
In a statement, Crawford said the state needs a court that is “committed to upholding the rights and freedoms of all Wisconsinites.”
“I’ve spent my career standing up for Wisconsin values like safe communities, reproductive rights, clean air and water, and fair elections. As a prosecutor, I took on tough cases to hold criminals and sex offenders accountable and bring justice to victims. As an attorney, I fought for working people, families, and teachers when their rights were threatened and being trampled on,” she said. “Now, as a circuit court judge, I work every day to deliver justice impartially, keep our communities safe, and treat everyone fairly under the law.”
The results of the Nov. 5 election “don’t change the Court’s responsibility to give fair hearings in cases of statewide importance,” Crawford said.
“More than ever, we need a majority of justices who care about protecting the rights of Wisconsinites and upholding the law and our Constitution impartially, without a political agenda,” she said.
Candidates have until Jan. 1, 2025, to enter the race. Supreme Court justices are elected to 10-year terms in Wisconsin.
