{"id":2399818,"date":"2025-02-06T15:00:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T20:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gopers-cant-afford-to-lose-wisconsins-supreme-court-race\/"},"modified":"2025-02-06T15:01:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T20:01:18","slug":"gopers-cant-afford-to-lose-wisconsins-supreme-court-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gopers-cant-afford-to-lose-wisconsins-supreme-court-race\/","title":{"rendered":"GOPers Can&#8217;t Afford To Lose Wisconsin&#8217;s Supreme Court Race"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgopers-cant-afford-to-lose-wisconsins-supreme-court-race%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2399818&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election on \u2064April 1, 2025, is critical for both state and national politics, as it will \u2062determine control of the \u2064court, currently held\u200c by \u200ba 4-3 \u200cleftist majority.This control arose \u200dafter\u200b Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz defeated Republican Daniel Kelly in 2023, giving Democrats a chance to legislate from the bench, impacting various issues, including election laws and\u2064 reproductive rights. With Justice\u200b Ann \u2062Walsh\u200c Bradley set to retire, conservative Brad Schimel faces off against leftist\u200d Susan crawford. The outcome will heavily influence Wisconsin\u2019s\u2063 political landscape,\u2062 with \u200bpotential implications for future \u200celections, \u200bincluding voter ID laws and congressional\u2063 maps. As concerns about election integrity\u2063 and \u200djudicial power grow, conservative voices stress the\u2062 necessity for active participation \u200bin this election to prevent \u2063Wisconsin\u200d from becoming a \u200cDemocrat stronghold.\u200c The race has already drawn \u2063notable\u2063 fundraising, underscoring its high stakes. \u2063If\u2062 conservatives fail, the implications could resonate beyond state borders, possibly altering the Republican Party&#8217;s standing\u200b in the House and the national electoral\u2062 map,\u2062 making this a\u200b pivotal moment for party strategy and unity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>While conservatives may have the 2024 presidential election in their rearview mirror, there&rsquo;s another upcoming race pivotal to the future of U.S. national politics that requires their immediate attention. <\/p>\n<p>On April 1, Wisconsin voters will head to the polls to determine which political party will control the state&rsquo;s supreme court for the next several years. While technically &ldquo;nonpartisan,&rdquo; the high court currently hosts a 4-3 leftist majority, which was made possible after Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Wisconsin_Supreme_Court_elections,_2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defeated<\/a> Republican-backed Daniel Kelly in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The 2023 race gave Democrats control of the court for the first time in <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Wisconsin_Supreme_Court_elections,_2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">15 years<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>With left-wing Justice Ann Walsh Bradley set to retire, this year&rsquo;s matchup between conservative Brad Schimel and leftist Susan Crawford will decide whether Republicans can take back their majority. Thus far, both candidates have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2025\/01\/16\/wisconsin-supreme-court-race-has-partisan-cash-pouring-in\/77743035007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raised<\/a> millions of dollars in what is expected to be one of the most significant elections of the 2025 cycle. <\/p>\n<p>The importance of winning the Badger State&rsquo;s Supreme Court race cannot be overstated. Should conservatives fail to get Schimel across the finish line, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">continued left-wing dominance<\/a> of Wisconsin&rsquo;s high court will turn the Midwestern swing state into a Democrat stronghold.<\/p>\n<p>In the less than two years Democrats have controlled the court, the judicial body&rsquo;s leftist justices have taken it upon themselves to effectively legislate from the bench and advance numerous Democrat priorities impacting state and national politics. <\/p>\n<p>Chief among these was their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/08\/leftists-get-what-they-paid-for-in-wisconsin-supreme-court-flip-flop-allowing-ballot-drop-boxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">decision<\/a>&nbsp;to reverse a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/08\/wisconsin-supreme-court-drops-hammer-on-2020-election-shenanigans-ballot-drop-boxes-are-illegal-under-wisconsin-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2022 ruling<\/a> by the court&rsquo;s then-conservative majority that deemed the widespread use of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/drop-boxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ballot drop boxes<\/a> in the 2020 election to be illegal. As The Federalist&rsquo;s Matt Kittle <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/08\/leftists-get-what-they-paid-for-in-wisconsin-supreme-court-flip-flop-allowing-ballot-drop-boxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, &ldquo;Unmanned absentee ballot boxes have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wi-leftists-get-what-they-paid-for-in-drop-box-ruling-flip-flop\/\" title=\"WI Leftists Get What They Paid For In Drop Box Ruling Flip-Flop\">sparked myriad election integrity concerns<\/a>, including a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/12\/connecticut-prosecutors-arrest-4-democrats-for-allegedly-misusing-absentee-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">high-profile scandal<\/a>&nbsp;in a Connecticut election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The July 2024 ruling &mdash; while&nbsp;apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/08\/leftists-get-what-they-paid-for-in-wisconsin-supreme-court-flip-flop-allowing-ballot-drop-boxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contradictory<\/a>&nbsp;to state law &mdash; paved the way for drop boxes to be used in Wisconsin&rsquo;s 2024 general election. Democrat-majority localities such as Madison and Milwaukee reported deploying more than a dozen each in 2024, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-absentee-ballot-drop-boxes-944598fd085e0e6089d3f518a93a874e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the November race, President Donald Trump won Wisconsin by <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/election-results-2024\/wisconsin\/?r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">0.8 points<\/a>, while Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin won reelection by <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/election-results-2024\/wisconsin\/?r=50807\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">0.9 points<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>[RELATED:[RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/08\/republicans-are-paying-the-price-for-ignoring-off-year-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republicans Are Paying The Price For Ignoring Off-Year Elections<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Losing control of the state Supreme Court also cost Wisconsin Republicans numerous state general assembly seats.<\/p>\n<p>As Dan O&rsquo;Donnell recently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/04\/how-democrats-plan-to-use-wisconsins-supreme-court-election-to-rig-the-2026-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in these pages, &ldquo;The day after Protasiewicz was sworn in, leftist groups&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wisconsinexaminer.com\/2023\/08\/02\/lawsuit-against-legislative-maps-filed-at-wisconsin-supreme-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed a lawsuit<\/a>&nbsp;challenging [the state&rsquo;s legislative maps], and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/channel3000.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/d\/9a\/d9a2a5b6-a10e-11ee-80dd-7b85651f0fa3\/6585fbe215802.pdf.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-plan-to-use-wi-supreme-court-race-to-rig-2026-midterms\/\" title=\"Dems Plan To Use WI ... To Rig 2026 Midterms\">leftist majority dutifully struck<\/a> them down<\/a> that December.&rdquo; The decision all but forced the GOP-controlled legislature to adopt Democrat Gov. Tony Evers&rsquo; proposed map, which helped net Democrats 10 Assembly seats and four Senate seats and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbay.com\/2024\/11\/06\/republicans-retain-wisconsin-senate-control-lose-supermajority\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cost<\/a>&nbsp;Republicans their supermajority in the upper chamber.<\/p>\n<p>The leftist-controlled court is also currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/wisconsin-attorney-argues-175-year-old-abortion-ban-validity-state-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">considering<\/a> whether to strike down Wisconsin&rsquo;s 1849 pro-life law. <\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/27\/in-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-only-brad-schimel-will-protect-election-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Only Brad Schimel Will Protect Election Laws<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While egregious, these rulings are only the tip of the iceberg, according to Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. Speaking with The Federalist, the Badger State Republican predicted that if the Wisconsin Supreme Court &ldquo;retain[s] a liberal majority, [it] would legislate from the bench by overturning conservative gains like <a href=\"https:\/\/will-law.org\/act-10-and-public-unions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Act 10<\/a> and voter ID, and also gerrymander congressional districts that could cost us the Republican majority in the House.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Schimel, who has publicly <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/27\/in-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-only-brad-schimel-will-protect-election-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defended<\/a> Wisconsin&rsquo;s voter ID law, Crawford has a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/27\/in-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-only-brad-schimel-will-protect-election-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">history<\/a> of engaging in lawfare against the state&rsquo;s photo identification requirement for voting. Regarding gerrymandering, Wisconsin Democrats have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/04\/how-democrats-plan-to-use-wisconsins-supreme-court-election-to-rig-the-2026-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">already forecast<\/a> plans to use the high court&rsquo;s leftist majority to &ldquo;win control of the House in 2026.&rdquo; This would likely include the redrawing of congressional maps to flip more House seats currently held by Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>With two vacancies, the GOP currently <a href=\"https:\/\/pressgallery.house.gov\/member-data\/party-breakdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">holds<\/a> a 218-215 majority in the lower chamber.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Without voter ID and other election integrity measures, Wisconsin&rsquo;s 10 electoral votes may never again be awarded to a Republican presidential candidate,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;This crucial election has national impacts and will require national support.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives cannot afford to drop the ball on April&rsquo;s Supreme Court race as <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/08\/republicans-are-paying-the-price-for-ignoring-off-year-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">they did<\/a> during the 2023 contest. The future of Wisconsin politics and its implications for the nation are simply too important.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisconsin&#8217;s April 1 election will shape its Supreme Court&#8217;s future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2399819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/WI-SC-Race.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[34059,6203,5894,32275,4124],"class_list":["post-2399818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-election-2024","tag-gop","tag-politics","tag-supreme-court","tag-wisconsin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/WI-SC-Race.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399818"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399822,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399818\/revisions\/2399822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}