The top two candidates running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court debated on Wednesday ahead of a high-stakes April election that will determine the ideological bend of the court.
Former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel and liberal Judge Susan Crawford clashed on abortion, election integrity, and Elon Musk during the debate, which took place in Milwaukee. Both candidates are running to replace liberal Judge Ann Walsh Bradley, whose retirement will put the ideological leaning of Wisconsin’s top court up for grabs at the April 1 election.
While the judicial races in Wisconsin are officially non-partisan, Schimel is backed by Republicans and Crawford by Democrats. Liberal judges currently hold a 4-3 majority on the state’s Supreme Court.
One of the issues that the court could decide on is whether the 1849 Wisconsin abortion law, which effectively banned all abortions, should go into effect due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Schimel said during the debate that he believed it to be a “valid” law but didn’t think it accurately reflected the “will of the people of Wisconsin today.”
“It was passed by two houses of the legislature and signed by a governor. That means it’s a valid law,” he said. “But what I said next was that there’s a real question as to whether that law reflects the will of the people of Wisconsin now and today.”
Crawford, who previously represented Planned Parenthood as a lawyer, said during the debate that Schimel was trying to “backpedal” on the issue. She has already run ads attacking Schimel on abortion, saying that she “personally trusts women to decide whether to have an abortion.”
The liberal judge also accused Schimel of being beholden to Elon Musk, whose “America PAC” has spent $1 million backing his campaign.
“I have support from all over the country — and it is because Elon Schimel is trying to buy this race, and people are very upset about that,” Crawford claimed.
Crawford’s campaign has been backed with hefty donations from Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, and leftist megadonor George Soros. Soros was instrumental in flipping control of the court from conservative-leaning to liberal after backing liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz in the Supreme Court race two years ago.
Schimel also accused Crawford of backtracking on issues from election integrity to Act 10, a law that brought dramatic reforms to government unions.
“Now she backs off from things she was once proud of, campaigning as a judge,” Schimel said.
Previously in her career, Crawford brought a lawsuit to end the use of photo ID requirements for voting and a challenge to Act 10. Crawford has refused to say whether she would support a proposed constitutional amendment that would put voter ID requirements into the state constitution, saying that she doesn’t “take positions on issues that could end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
Schimel has said that he would vote for the proposed amendment.
After the debate, the Wisconsin Democratic Party claimed that Schimel would “fail Wisconsin women and serve the whims of Trump,” while the Wisconsin GOP said that Crawford was a “far-left puppet serving the interests of elite Democrat donors.”
“Susan Crawford exposed her true colors in tonight’s debate, aligning herself with the extreme liberal agenda of her billionaire backers. In contrast, Judge Brad Schimel demonstrated his unwavering commitment to fairness and objectivity as a judge,” said Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming.
