President Trump endorsed conservative candidate Brad Schimel in the closely contested race for Wisconsin Supreme Court — the highest profile endorsement yet in the most expensive judicial contest ever in the US.
Early voting began last Tuesday and Trump warned that if Schimel’s foe, soft-on-crime Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, wins, his agenda will grind to a halt in Wisconsin.
“Brad Schimel is running against Radical Left Liberal Susan Crawford, who has repeatedly given child molesters, rapists, women beaters, and domestic abusers ‘light’ sentences,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Friday.
“She is the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country — And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin.”
Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court election, which is slated for April 1, has already shattered records and become the most expensive race of its kind in US history, topping $76 million by some estimates, as top Republican and Democratic donors have pumped millions into the contest.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s two main political groups the America PAC and Building America’s Future spent $14.6 million bolstering Schimel, according to an analysis from WisPolitics. And Democratic kingmaker George Soros has dumped at least $1 million in Wisconsin state Democratic Party coffers this year.
Both sides agree that the stakes are high given the fierce political divide within Wisconsin politics. The state has a Democratic governor and attorney general. But Republicans control the state legislation.
Currently, the state Supreme Court leans left. The composition of the state’s high court could have major ramifications on future fights such as redistricting, abortion, state employee unions and more.
The state Supreme Court previously approved the current Wisconsin congressional map in 2022 when the bench leaned conservative.
But the left-leaning high court is currently evaluating redistricting for the state legislature. Political operatives also have their eyes on the redistricting battle after the 2030 census.
Crawford quickly hit back at Trump’s endorsement of Schimel, the state’s former attorney general who now serves as a judge on the Wisconsin Circuit Court for Waukesha.
“Donald Trump just endorsed Brad Schimel. Schimel has spent his entire career on bent knee to right-wing special interests,” she chided on X. “He said he wants to be part of Trump’s ‘support network.’ We assumed he had this endorsement locked up months ago.”
Wisconsin state Supreme Court is comprised of seven justices who serve out 10-year terms. On paper, justices are supposed to be nonpartisan, but in practice, observers have been able to glean their political persuasions.
The state’s high court had previously leaned to the right but in 2023, liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated her conservative rival by about 11 percentage points. Her victory ended about 15 years of conservative rule on the court. Prior to the 2025 race, the 2023 cycle had been the most expensive in state history.
That election took place less than a year after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion had been a dominant issue in the Wisconsin state Supreme Court race.
This off-year election will be yet another test of the potency of abortion as well as the two party’s messaging now that Trump has been sworn into office for his second term.
Broadly speaking, off-year elections in 2025 can often give some hints about the mood of the country before the 2026 midterms.
This year’s Wisconsin race is to replace Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who didn’t opt for reelection and is generally seen as a liberal.
Sparse polling has given limited insights into the state of the race.
A poll released by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce earlier this month, for example, pegged the race at a tie 47% to 47% between Schimel and Crawford.
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