(MADISON, WI) — A closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court election takes center stage as Republican-backed Brad Schimel and Democratic-backed Susan Crawford are set to debate on Wednesday, locked in a race for a seat that is technically nonpartisan but has become the center of a political firestorm.
The April 1 election will determine which of the candidates, vying to replace retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, will help determine the ideological bent of the court, which currently leans liberal. The winner will join the bench as the court grapples with hot-button issues such as abortion access and redistricting.
The race could also preview how voters in the battleground state feel a few months into President Donald Trump’s second term.
“They’re using it as a test as to President Trump’s popularity,” Janine Geske, a law professor at Marquette University and a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, told ABC News. “He took Wisconsin in the election. And the question is, how will this election go?”
The debate, hosted by ABC affiliate WISN-TV and the Marquette University Law School, will air online and on ABC News affiliates across Wisconsin at 7 p.m. Central time on Wednesday.
Schimel, the candidate backed by Republicans, is a former state attorney general who is a circuit court judge in Waukesha County.
“I got in this race 16 months before Election Day because I recognize … you gotta meet voters where they are,” Schimel told WISN in February.
Crawford, backed by Democrats, is a Dane County circuit court judge and a former private attorney. She at points represented Democratic-aligned groups such as Planned Parenthood, an organization supporting abortion access.
“I have spent a lot of time talking about my record, my background as a prosecutor, as a lawyer representing people in court and standing up for their rights,” Crawford told WISN in February.
Over $40 million has been spent on ad reservations, both aired already and for future reservations, in the race, according to advertisement tracking firm AdImpact. (Recent polling from the Marquette University Law School showed a sizable percentage of voters do not have an opinion on either candidate.)
The election is also seen as one indication of Elon Musk’s influence beyond Washington, where he has overseen major cuts to the federal government.
A conservative group affiliated with Musk, Building America’s Future, has spent more than $1.6 million on television ads in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, while another one Musk backs, America PAC, has spent over $6 million on get-out-the-vote efforts and digital media, according to state campaign finance records. The expenditures are marked as either opposing Crawford or supporting Schimel.
Musk himself has not weighed in much directly about the race, but he posted on X last month urging people to “vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Schimel has said he has never spoken to Musk and told reporters in February, “I don’t have any agenda that I’m working alongside anyone.”
These groups’ investment in the race has sparked pushback from Democrats.
“Wisconsin voters don’t like Elon Musk running our federal government and they don’t want him buying elections in Wisconsin either,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement on Monday.
Crawford’s own support has not been free of scrutiny. Schimel and his supporters have pointed to major donors seemingly supporting Crawford, including liberal billionaire George Soros and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat. According to state campaign finance records, those individuals donated to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and the state party has donated $2 million to Crawford.
Crawford has said she has made no promises to any donors and has also emphasized her independence.
While this election is being eyed nationally as the first major race of 2025, experts and supporters of either candidate say it also could have major impacts for the state of Wisconsin, including on issues such as redistricting, voting rights and abortion access.
For example, there is a Wisconsin Supreme Court case regarding if the Wisconsin Constitution protects the right to an abortion, which the court might consider after the new justice is seated.
Wisconsin has an 1849 statute on the books that would effectively limit all abortions in the state, although the law is not enforced.
If the court were to determine in a different case that the statute is still in effect and later that abortion access is not protected by the Wisconsin Constitution, it could mean abortion is determined illegal in Wisconsin, Chad Oldfather, another law professor at Marquette University, told ABC News.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Schimel had previously indicated support for leaving the 1849 law in place. More recently, Schimel told WISN that on abortion access cases, “I treasure life even when it’s not planned, but I respect that the law puts this in the hands of voters, and I will respect their will. … [My] personal opinions? No, they don’t have any role.”
Crawford, on her end, told WISN she has made no promises to any abortion access advocacy groups but said she is proud of the work she did as a lawyer “fighting for people’s rights,” including when representing Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Women Speak Out PAC, a group that is affiliated with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a group that opposes abortion access, launched canvassers and volunteers to get out the vote for Schimel. SBA has made a six-figure investment in the race.
“Lives are literally on the line in this race, and they depend upon Wisconsin voters showing up for Brad Schimel. … If Schimel doesn’t win, the court will be a tool of the Left,” Kelsey Pritchard, political communications director for SBA, told ABC News in an interview.
EMILY’s List, a political group that supports female candidates who support abortion access, has donated to Crawford and ran a digital fundraising campaign to encourage others to donate.
“As Trump, MAGA Republicans, and unelected billionaires like Elon Musk try to rip away the freedoms we’ve fought so hard for, electing Judge Susan Crawford to the Wisconsin state Supreme Court means protecting these rights that are under attack,” EMILY’s List President Jessica Mackler said in a statement to ABC News.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Soorin Kim and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
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