Wisconsin voters will be voting April 1^st to elect a new supreme court justice for a ten-year term. Dane County Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel are squared off to see which of them will fill a seat being vacated due to the retirement of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Although the legislative and executive branches make decisions that significantly affect the business community, the decisions of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin also have a substantial effect on Wisconsin’s business environment. Because the Supreme Court of Wisconsin is often the final decision-maker regarding how or whether legislative and regulatory initiatives are implemented, decisions by the seven justices often have a large effect on Wisconsin businesses.

Meet the Candidates

The candidates for the supreme court on the April 1 ballot offer the voters a distinct choice in judicial philosophy:

Judge Susan Crawford – Current Dane County Circuit Court Judge (elected 2018). Former Chief Legal Counsel to Democrat Governor James Doyle. Former Assistant Attorney General in the Iowa and Wisconsin Department of Justices. Former Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Science at the Department of Natural Resources. As a law partner with the Cullen Weston Pines and Bach Firm, Judge Crawford focused on civil litigation and regulatory proceedings, often representing the League of Women Voters, State Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly, Democrat Governor Tony Evers, and the Madison Teachers Union. During her campaign for Dane County Judge, she focused on her experience with litigation and her past work in defense of employee unions, public education, and women’s rights. Judge Crawford said, “We need Supreme Court justices who understand what it takes to keep communities safe, who are impartial and fair, who will have common sense, and who will reject efforts to politicize the Constitution to undermine our basic rights.” 

Judge Brad Schimel – Current Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge (appointed by Republican Governor Scott Walker in 2018). Former Waukesha County District Attorney (2006-2012). Former Republican Attorney General (2015-2019). As Wisconsin Attorney General, he helped lead a lawsuit with attorneys generals from 20 states challenging the Affordable Care Act, defended the state Republican-drawn legislative maps, supported Wisconsin’s Voter ID law, and has opposed gun restrictions. Judge Schimel says he is running for the Supreme Court to “restore confidence in the people of Wisconsin that the justice system will be fair and impartial.” He has been critical of the court for “imposing on the people of this state their will, rather than impartial judgment based on the law.” 

Why This Election Matters

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin is generally characterized as having a 4-3 liberal majority, with retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley seen as a judicial liberal. Should Judge Schimel win, conventional wisdom is this would shift the court’s ideological balance to a 4-3 conservative majority, while if Judge Crawford wins, the 4-3 liberal majority would be maintained. As such, the stakes are high as the April 1 election will decide the court’s ideological bent. 

February 18, 2025, Gov. Evers delivered his biennial budget recommendations to a joint meeting of the Wisconsin Legislature. Republican legislative leaders have said they are going to scrap what Gov. Evers proposed and set aside his non-fiscal policy recommendations.

Gov. Evers’ budget recommendations include several new and novel ways to sue Wisconsin businesses, including:

• Recreate a false claims act with qui tam provisions and thereby allow trial lawyers – in the name of the state – to sue private parties alleging public program fraud and allowing the trial lawyer to be awarded a bounty of up to 30% of the amount recovered.
• Create new avenues for civil suits against employers alleging gender identity & expression discrimination, unfair honesty testing, and unfair genetic testing.
• Create a new private right of action to sue broadband providers alleging provision of service discrimination.
• Create a new means by which service employees may sue employers, alleging an employer is denying the employee’s right to a predictable work schedule.
• Create a new public intervenor office to facilitate civil suits against health insurance companies relating to coverage disputes with policyholders.

The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council requested these recommendations be removed from the budget bill and be set aside.

Republican legislative leaders reacted quickly and harshly to Gov. Evers' budget address, saying they are going to “start over” and ignore Gov. Evers’ recommendations.



Senate Republican Majority Leaders Sen. LeMahieu  criticized the level of spending and Assembly Republican Majority Leader Rep. August promised to rework the budget to focus on tax relief. Joint Finance Committee Co-Chairs Sen. Marklein and Rep. Born and other Republican committee members issued similar statements. Democrats on the finance committee released a joint statement supporting Gov. Evers’ budget.