Two candidates have emerged as the contenders for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court after a filing deadline Tuesday evening.
Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge who formerly represented Democrats and Planned Parenthood as an attorney, and Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge and former Republican attorney general, are running to fill a seat that will be vacated after liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley retires.
While Wisconsin’s highest court and the elections to fill its seats are officially nonpartisan, the 2023 election of Justice Janet Protasiewicz gave the court a 4-3 liberal majority for the first time in 15 years.
Now Crawford seeks to maintain that balance, while Schimel seeks to swing the court back to conservatives..
The election will take place April 1 and Bradley’s term expires July 31. Whoever wins in April will likely decide the shape of the court until 2026, when conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley will be up for reelection.