A statewide election on April 1 will determine the future of Wisconsin's Supreme Court.
Wisconsin's upcoming Supreme Court election has far-reaching implications:
(1) Balance of the Court. In 2023, the election of Democratic Justice Janet Protasiewicz tipped the balance in Wisconsin's Supreme Court 4-3 in favor of Democrats. This spring, long-serving progressive Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, creating an open seat. If we fail to replace Justice Bradley's seat with another progressive Justice, we lose our majority in Supreme Court.
(2) The Candidates. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has endorsed Judge Susan Crawford, a former prosecutor who has represented Planned Parenthood in private practice and oversaw enforcement of environmental laws in state government. The Republican candidate is far-right MAGA extremist Brad Schimel, who served as Attorney General under Scott Walker and led ferocious attacks on reproductive freedom, the Affordable Care Act, fair maps, and voting rights. One of these two individuals will hold the court’s controlling vote.
(3) What's at Stake in Wisconsin. Since winning a Democratic majority in 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has restored voting rights, ended the GOP’s partisan gerrymander of state legislative maps, and is considering a challenge to Wisconsin’s pre-Civil War abortion ban. With these maps and voting rules, Senator Tammy Baldwin won re-election by 0.9% and Democrats flipped fourteen state legislative seats, putting the party on track for dual-chamber majorities (and a possible Democratic trifecta that could reshape state law) in 2026. If we lose the majority, all of this progress will be reversed.
(4) Long-Term Impacts Beyond Wisconsin. If Democrats are able to maintain a majority in the Supreme Court, there is a path to redistricting federal congressional maps, which would allow Wisconsin to send another two (or maybe three!) Representatives to Washington. (As a cautionary tale, if Democrats had won control of North Carolina's Supreme Court, Democrats could have won control of the U.S. House this cycle.) Additionally, Wisconsin could further rollback voter suppression laws, paving the way for us to beat Senator Ron Johnson in 2028, allowing for a rare Senate pickup opportunity and to turn Wisconsin Blue once again in the 2028 Presidential election.