The race will pit liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford against conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel. The race was on after liberal-leaning Justice Ann Walsh Bradley announced in 2024 that she would step down from the state’s high court.
As of Thursday, 475,207 absentee ballots have been cast, with 242,426 being cast by in-person absentee ballots. That figure is up from the 175,774 that had voted early by the Thursday before the 2023 spring election, according to data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race similarly had the ability to shift the ideological leaning of the court. That year, 1.8 million Wisconsin residents voted in the election, with Justice Janet Protasiewicz, a Democrat, winning.
So far, the state’s most populous counties — Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha, and Brown — have the highest early voter turnout, exceeding two years ago.
In Milwaukee and Dane counties, the state’s Democratic strongholds, voter turnout has increased by 17% and 24%, respectively.
The Republican stronghold of Waukesha County has also seen a large increase of 44% in voter turnout.
Early voting in Brown County, which encompasses Green Bay and leans Republican, has increased by 39% since 2023.
In 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court race became the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history, with a combined $56 million spent. Liberals won their first majority on the state’s high court in 15 years with Protasiewicz’s 2023 victory.
For this 2025 contest, more than $81 million has been spent on the race, including more than $17 million by groups funded by President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk.
If Schimel, a former state attorney general, wins next month, conservatives would win back control of the high court. If Crawford wins, liberal-leaning justices would retain control until at least 2028.
WISCONSIN VOTERS GEAR UP FOR ANOTHER HIGH-STAKES STATE SUPREME COURT RACE
The election is on April 1, five days away. The winner of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race will serve a 10-year term. Wisconsin voters will also decide on the state’s superintendent.
The April ballot will also include a voter identification requirement question after the GOP-controlled Wisconsin state legislature passed a measure to place it. If it passes, the measure would enshrine in the state constitution that ID is required to vote. Wisconsin is already one of nine states with strict voter ID requirements.
