George Soros, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Tulsa philanthropists Stavy and Lynn Schusterman, and California physician Karla Jurvetson have poured a ton of money into the critical Wisconsin Supreme Court race, which takes place in three weeks.
The election determines the majority on the court in the swing state for the next two years.
The liberals have thrown money at Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz, while conservatives ignore former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. She received $12.4 million between February 7 and March 20, and Kelly only received $2.2 million during that same time.
Soros, Pritzker, and the Scustermans have given $1 million each. How important is the race? The Schustermans previously gave the Democrats $40,000.
Jurveston donated $500,000 to the Wisconsin Democratic Party. She gave almost $15 million to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign.
The Republicans got $500,000 from Liz Uihlein to the Wisconsin Republican Party, and that’s the most the party has received from one person.
However, Liz’s husband, Richard Uihlein, gave $4 million to a super PAC that has shelled out $5 million “on ads to boost Kelly” in 2023.
Overall, Protasiecwicz raised $14.5 million. The Wisconsin Democratic Party sent her $8.8 million. Kelly? Only $2.7 million. The Wisconsin Republican Party gave him $500,000 “and nearly $50,000 in donations from county Republican parties and the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee.”
The money allowed Protasiewicz to get a head start over Kelly:
As of March 22, her campaign had bought or reserved more than $10.1 million in ads, while Kelly had spent about $460,000, according to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice.Over the most recent six-week reporting period, Protasiewicz spent more than $8.3 million on ads compared with roughly $364,000 by Kelly. Third-party groups have helped Kelly narrow the gap, but Protasiewicz’s side still had spent more on TV and radio ads, based on tallies by the Brennan Center and others.All of the spending, estimated at more than $30 million and climbing, has made the race the most expensive for a court seat in U.S. history. The prior record high was $15.4 million spent on an Illinois Supreme Court race in 2004.
Protasiewicz has focused on abortion, an issue the Supreme Court could decide on. When SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, Wisconsin used an 1849 law banning abortion in almost all cases. Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul want the law overturned, and the lawsuit will likely go to the state Supreme Court.
In April 2022, the conservative majority voted in favor of a redistricting map drawn by Republican lawmakers. If someone files a lawsuit, it could make it to the state Supreme Court. With the majority changed, the court could trash it. Protasiewicz already described the map as “rigged.”
Then we have the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, the Wisconsin “Supreme Court came within a vote of overturning President Joe Biden’s victory.”
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