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Once upon a time, I might have opened a podcast episode about a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin by saying something like, “I know it’s an obscure election, but hear me out…” By now, political coverage of any statewide race in Wisconsin needs little explanation.
Wisconsin was the tipping point state in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. In 2024, it wasn’t the tipping point state, but it was the single closest state in the country. President Trump won it by less than a percentage point, similar to President Biden’s showing four years earlier. In fact, Wisconsin voters cast a rare split ticket decision, sending both Trump and Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin to Washington.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court race serves as a test of how voters in the consummate battleground state are feeling ten weeks into Trump’s second term, and one of the main themes of Trump’s presidency is taking center stage: the role that Elon Musk is playing in government.
The race is nominally nonpartisan, but liberal judge Susan Crawford and conservative judge Brad Schimel have been very clear about where they stand on state and even national politics. At stake is the ideological balance of the state’s court, which flipped to liberal for the first time since 2008 in 2023.
Director of the Marquette Law School Poll Charles Franklin and Political Reporter for CBS58 Milwaukee Emilee Fannon joined me to talk about it all.
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