Anya Van Wagtindonk
Appearances
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
Yeah, so this is a contest between Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel. It's technically a nonpartisan race, but Crawford is very clearly the liberal candidate and Schimel is very clearly the conservative candidate. So whoever wins will determine the ideological balance of the court. And that obviously really matters for state law here, of course.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
But this is also just a really significant election coming after President Donald Trump's win in November. So it's a bit of a test of how voters feel about his first few months in office. And that's a big reason for all of that interest and just tons of money being spent here.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
Yeah, it is just wild. The latest estimates from WisPolitics, which is a news service here, show that this race has so far cost more than $100 million. That's almost twice what our last record-setting judge race here in Wisconsin cost two years ago. It's coming from both political parties and from all across the country. It includes Illinois Governor J.B.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
Pritzker and George Soros, who are backing Crawford. I've seen some celebrity names in the campaign finance reports also supporting her. and a few major conservative business people are backing Schimel, but far and away the biggest and most significant spender has been Elon Musk supporting Schimel. He says it's really about congressional redistricting.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
He says that if Schimel loses, Democrats could gain more seats in the U.S. House. Crawford says it's about Musk's business interests. Here's Crawford at a debate with Schimel.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
You know, both candidates are making those accusations about campaign influence. In Crawford's case, she's referring to a case where Tesla is challenging Wisconsin's car dealership laws. Right now, the company isn't allowed to sell cars in Wisconsin. And Musk isn't just making traditional campaign donations. He also gave out million dollar checks to registered voters here.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
That's really skirting the line of, you know, not out and out paying them to vote, which is illegal. Now, what else is at stake in this race? Abortion law, I think, is the most significant issue. There's a case to determine whether abortion is legal. It's already being heard by this court. It's unclear whether that case will have been decided before the winner of this race takes the bench.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
There's also a major case involving labor law and collective bargaining rights that's probably going before the state court. Again, exact timing of that is unclear. And then I'll just note that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided a number of voting and election related cases in the past. It came incredibly close to overturning Joe Biden's victory in the state in 2020.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
So there's just such electoral interest tied up in having control of the highest court in what might be America's swingiest swing state.
Up First from NPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida's Special Elections, Trump's Trade War
Thank you.