Trump-backed Judge Schimel votes in key Wisconsin race after millions spent by Musk

Record ID: 1987603

  • Title: Trump-backed Judge Schimel votes in key Wisconsin race after millions spent by Musk
  • Date: 1st April 2025
  • Summary: GENESEE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES (APRIL 1, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BRAD SCHIMEL, REPUBLICAN-BACKED CANDIDATE FOR WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT, WALKING INTO POLLING SITE, JOURNALISTS AT WINDOW, VIEW FROM WINDOW SHOWING SCHIMEL VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD SCHIMEL, REPUBLICAN-BACKED CANDIDATE FOR WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT, AND HIS WIFE, SANDI SCHIMEL, SAYING: BRAD: "I've r
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Brad Schimel Musk Wisconsin Supreme Court race
  • Location: GENESEE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES
  • City: GENESEE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA001337401042025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Wisconsin voters will choose a new justice for the state's top court on Tuesday (April 1) in a race that offers an early referendum on Donald Trump's presidency, with abortion rights, labor rights and election rules all potentially in the balance.
    The campaign is easily the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history. More than $90 million has been spent by the candidates, the state parties and outside groups - including more than $21 million by Trump ally Elon Musk and political groups with ties to him, according to a tally from New York University's Brennan Center.
    Liberal Susan Crawford, a county judge, and conservative Brad Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general and also a county judge, are vying for a seat on the court that currently has a 4-3 liberal edge. The race is technically non-partisan, though Trump has endorsed Schimel and both state Democrats and Republicans have lined up behind their preferred candidate.
    After Schimel cast his vote at the Genesee Town Hall, he told journalists, "We have to stop the politics on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. We've got to go and vote to restore objectivity to this court so that our constitutional republic remains the way it was originally set up."
    The court is likely to issue critical rulings on voting rights and election rules ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race, when Wisconsin is expected to remain a central battleground. Trump won Wisconsin in November by less than a percentage point - the closest margin of any state.
    (Production: Hussein Al Waaile, Dan Fastenberg, Roselle Chen)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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