Wisconsin Must Pick Brad Schimel Over Abortion Activist Susan Crawford
The outcome of a close race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court between Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel and Democrat-backed candidate Susan Crawford might affect national politics, according to RealClearPolling.
Polling for the April 1 election discovered an evenly matched race, RealClearPolling reported. A Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce poll found the race split between Schimel and Crawford, 47-47. RealClearPolling noted that name recognition is key in the nonpartisan race, as both candidates will not have their party affiliation next to their names on the ballot. Schimel currently has an advantage over Crawford, according to polls, as 38% do not recognize his name, compared with the 58% who do not recognize hers.
Wisconsin, a notorious battleground state in national elections, most recently elected a Democrat-supported justice to its Supreme Court in 2023. However, RealClearPolling considered the 11-point win surprising in light of other elections around the same time, which had resulted in a close gubernatorial race and a Republican win for a U.S. Senate seat.
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The 2025 race could affect politics on the national level, as a win for Schimel “bodes well for public perceptions of the Trump administration and future elections when Trump is no longer on the ballot,” RealClearPolling reported.
“An open question remains whether the Republican Party will be able to turn the first-time voters Trump brought in during 2016, as well as increased youth, working-class, and minority support in 2024, into reliable Republican votes,” RealClearPolling added. “Whether the Republican party can maintain those voters will be seen in exit polls after this election.”
CatholicVote previously reported that Crawford, currently a circuit court judge, has a concerning history of doling out lenient sentences to serious offenders. Most recently, she defended her decision to sentence a convicted child rapist to just four years in prison, rather than the 10-year sentence state prosecutors had wanted.
The race could also have implications for the pro-life movement in Wisconsin, as Schimel, formerly the state’s attorney general, is publicly supportive of protecting life at all stages. Crawford, conversely, defended Planned Parenthood in a case during her time as a prosecutor, CatholicVote reported.
RealClearPolling added that the election could affect congressional maps in Wisconsin. Of the state’s eight congressional seats, Republicans currently hold six.
“Only two of the state’s congressional seats were decided by less than 10 points in 2024, and both went to Republicans,” RealClearPolling reported. “This means that at best, Democrats can only win four out of the eight congressional seats, while Republicans can win six, even though the state is a 50-50 toss-up depending on the election.”
Democrats have been pushing to redraw the congressional maps to increase their odds of winning more seats. A win for Schimel means the state Supreme Court will flip to a majority of Republican-backed judges who will not support redrawing the maps. If Crawford wins, the Court might change the maps.
LifeNews Note: Hannah Hiester writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
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