President Donald Trump's preferred candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and his Democratic-backed challenger made a final blitz across the state on Monday, the day before voting concludes in a race where early turnout has surged and spending is nearing $100 million.
Elon Musk, a top Trump adviser who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, held a rally in Green Bay on Sunday night to push for the election of Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge and former Republican attorney general. He faces Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge and former attorney who fought for abortion rights and to protect union power.
Liberals hold a 4-3 advantage on the court, but the retirement of a liberal justice this year puts the ideological balance in play. The court in Wisconsin is expected to rule on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting regulations in the coming years. Each justice is elected to a 10-year term.
Through Sunday, the last day of early voting, at least 644,800 people had cast ballots, based on a Monday total from the Wisconsin Elections Commission. That number will rise as some municipalities report additional ballots collected over the weekend.
As it stands now, early voting numbers were 57% higher, or about 235,000 ballots greater, than the 409,755 early ballots counted the day before the last Supreme Court election in 2023.
Milwaukee County, the state's largest and the one that is home to the most Democrats, has seen a 40% increase in early voting compared with 2023. Dane County, the state's second-largest and home to the capital of Madison and the University of Wisconsin, has seen a 43% increase.
Voting was higher even more in the three suburban Milwaukee counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, which are commonly referred to as the WOW counties. Ballot returns were up 62% in Waukesha County and 53% in Ozaukee County. In Washington, the most heavily Republican of the three counties, early voting was nearly double two years ago.
"I believe that we're getting the energy and we're getting people motivated," Schimel said after his first campaign stop Monday morning in Madison.
Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who campaigned with Schimel in Madison, said he's "not overly confident" based solely on the early voting numbers, given the increased push from Republicans to vote absentee.
Voters don't register by party in Wisconsin, so it is difficult to know how many ballots have been cast by Republicans or Democrats.
The high-stakes race has become a proxy fight over the nation's politics, with Crawford and Democrats trying to make it a referendum on Musk given his deep involvement in the contest. He and two groups he funds have combined to spend more than $21 million on the race that will determine majority control of the court, based on a count by the left-wing Brennan Center for Justice.
Crawford has benefited from $2 million given to the state Democratic Party by billionaire megadonor George Soros and $1.5 million from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, also a billionaire.
To date, more than $90 million has been spent on the race, according to the Brennan Center. That is nearly double the previous record of $51 million for a judicial race, set in Wisconsin in 2023 when control of the Supreme Court was also on the line.
Musk and Trump, who endorsed Schimel, have been pushing his candidacy as a way to protect Trump's agenda as it faces legal challenges in one of the few battleground states in the country. They've also pointed to the potential that congressional district boundary lines in Wisconsin could be redrawn by the court to favor Democrats.
Schimel has leaned heavily into the Trump endorsement with a TV ad running in the final days of the race that stated voting for Schimel will protect Trump's agenda. He wore a "Make America Great Again" hat while campaigning over the weekend and has posed for pictures in front of a giant inflatable Trump.
Crawford has the backing of Democrats who have tried to focus the race on Musk, casting it as the first chance for liberal voters to push back against the Trump agenda since his victory in November.
Musk, at his Sunday rally in Green Bay, put the stakes of the race in stark terms.
"I think this will be important for the future of civilization," he said. "It's that significant."
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