The Capitol Report, produced by WisPolitics.com — a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics — provides a weekly analysis of issues being debated in Wisconsin state government. It is underwritten by the WNA and produced exclusively for its members. WisPolitics.com President Jeff Mayers is a former editor and reporter for the Associated Press and a former political writer for the Wisconsin State Journal.
By WisPolitics
Candidates and outside groups dropped nearly $115 million on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race this spring, more than doubling the previous national record set just two years earlier, the latest WisPolitics tally shows. But will the spring 2026 race attract so much attention and money when ideological control of the court is no longer an issue?
In the spring 2025 race between circuit court judges Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, ideological control of the court was on the line, and out-of-state money flowed into Wisconsin on both sides. More than 40% of the money Crawford raised came from out-of-state donors. Meanwhile, Elon Musk poured some $25 million into a losing effort to bolster the conservative Schimel.
Together, Crawford and Musk accounted for half of what was spent on the race with the justice-elect reporting $33.4 million in expenses between her campaign launch in June 2024 and the end of the most recent reporting period.
Crawford senior adviser Sam Roecker said there was an outpouring of support for the Dane County judge’s campaign by those looking to “fight back” at what they saw as a corrupt effort by Musk to buy a seat on the state Supreme Court.
“We have record fundraising because people were so upset about what they were seeing in this race and looking for a way to fight back against the right-wing attack on the judiciary,” Roecker said. “We were able to run around and put this investment into communications to voters in every corner of this state.”
In all, Schimel and those backing him accounted for $59 million of the spending WisPolitics was able to track.
Crawford and those supporting her spent just under $56 million, but the justice-elect parlayed her robust fundraising effort into an advantage in the ad wars by getting a better candidate rate on broadcast TV.
Two years ago, WisPolitics tracked $56 million in spending as Janet Protasiewicz won an open seat on the court, flipping ideological control in liberals’ favor for the first time in 15 years. At the time, it was more than triple the previous national record for a state Supreme Court race. Until the spring 2025 race won by Crawford.
No onto spring 2026 — a race that could give liberals a 5-2 advantage if they can grab the seat now held by conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley.
But Bradley is raising doubts about whether she’ll seek reelection next year, while declared liberal candidate Chris Taylor is putting her foot on the fundraising gas.
Taylor, an appellate judge and former Dem state lawmaker, reported $583,933 raised in the six weeks after she launched her bid for the state Supreme Court, a record for the July continuing period ahead of a race.
And her report lists a mix of top Dem donors — such as philanthropist Lynde Uihlein and businessman John Miller — giving max donations of $20,000 each, as well as a string of small-dollar donations. In all, Taylor reports nearly 4,800 donations with more than 2,100 of them from out-of-state donors, totaling $88,673, a little more than $41 each. All that’s missing compared to the victorious campaigns of fellow liberals Crawford and Protasiewicz is a big transfer from the state Dem Party. And that’s likely not too far away, some suggest.
Bradley, meanwhile, reported no fundraising activity during the first six months of the year amid speculation that she’s having second thoughts about running for reelection in 2026. Bradley told WisPolitics shortly after the April election that she planned to run again and would spend the coming weeks plotting a path. But since then, chatter has picked up in conservative circles that there isn’t a clear shot and Bradley may opt against a bid. Not lifting a finger on the fundraising front will spike that talk, insiders note.
Some, though, also point out late spring was a poor time to hit up conservative donors, especially after many went all-in on the April Supreme Court race only to see Crawford beat Schimel by 10 points. Donors are exhausted and depressed, some say. There aren’t many willing to write a check for the maximum donation of $20,000. She also likely isn’t going to start asking for donations until she’s fully committed to the race to avoid alienating some of them by asking for a check and then bowing out once it’s already cleared.
Some had speculated Bradley may be interested in an appointment to the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago with Diane Sykes taking senior status on Oct. 1. But at 53, she doesn’t fit the profile of the young, pro-MAGA candidates in their 30s and 40s that the Trump White House seems to favor.
U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, forwarded five names to the White House after they emerged as consensus candidates backed by the Federal Nominating Commission.
Not that it necessarily matters. This White House isn’t looking for someone who makes both sides happy. WisPolitics reported in May that the White House had already begun interviews for the vacancy and was conducting a “parallel process” to the commission’s work.
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The Capitol Report is written by editorial staff at WisPolitics.com, a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics, and is distributed for publication by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
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