Wisconsin Supreme Court election front and center

Normally, you would not see much coverage in the national news for a state Supreme Court election.

That will not be the case this year for the Wisconsin election cycle.  

Last year, the GOP lost control of the court for the first time in 15 years, and now they have a chance to take it back.  

The Future of the Court 

When Democrats won the court in Wisconsin last year, it was a crippling blow that has already paid dividends for Democrats.  

One of the most significant issues to be addressed by the court was alleged gerrymandering.  

When Democrats won the election, it meant they were able to challenge district lines, impacting future elections and the state of the Congress.  

With how tight House races have been in recent years, swinging just a couple of seats with redistricting could mean who holds the power in the House. 

The last race was believed to have been the most expensive in state history, and this year’s race will likely exceed that.  

Former attorney general Brad Schimel and liberal activist judge Susan Crawford are facing off against each other in this race, and the clock is ticking to make an impression with voters.  

One of the key issues, of course, will be access to abortions.  

Crawford wants to make new laws, while Schimel is taking the conservative stance that judges should be applying current laws, not making new ones.  

Crawford is dangerous on this front, having previously represented Planned Parenthood.  

To that point, liberal activist groups are already knocking on doors to get support for Crawford, while pro-life groups are canvassing to support Schimel.  

The Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s Women Speak Out field team, for example, has been all over the state for Schimel to make voters aware of what is at stake in the upcoming election cycle.  

The good news for conservatives is that Trump won the state in 2024, so we need those voters to show up in force again on April 1 to hand the court back to conservatives, as the seat available is from a retiring liberal justice.  

The downside to this is that if Schimel loses this election, liberals will then have a two-seat advantage, which could be virtually impossible to overcome considering the temperature of the country and in particular, Wisconsin, which is one of the key battleground states in this country.