Alarm Sounded About Republican Turnout In Crucial Wisconsin Supreme Court Election
“Republicans just lost a key special election in Pennsylvania. @ScottPresler pleaded with the GOP weeks ago—Democrats were outspending us and we needed to act. We didn’t.”
Republican activist Scott Pressler put out an SOS on Friday night about the slow pace of GOP early voter turnout in the Wisconsin State Supreme Court election. There is no overstating the national implications of this race. The progressive candidate, Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, has promised to redraw the state’s congressional district map in a way that could cost Republicans two seats in Wisconsin and by extension, control of the House in the 2026 midterms.
Pressler warned that turnout is especially low in Eau Claire, Grant, La Crosse, Portage, and Wood counties. All but one of these counties are located in western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, which is currently being represented in Congress by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
If Crawford defeats her conservative opponent, former Wisconsin Attorney General and current Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, CD 3 will be redrawn in such a way that will ensure Van Order loses his seat to a Democrat next year.
Pressler also provided some encouraging news: “In order to win Wisconsin, we need SKY HIGH turnout in the WOW counties: Waukesha, Ozaukee, & Washington. So far, we are blowing our 2023 numbers out of the water.”
However, he cautioned, “Democrats are still getting out the vote in Dane & Milwaukee [counties].”
[Note: I have written about this race twice in the past month, here and here.]
‼️I BRING GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS‼️
Western Wisconsin — Congressman Derrick Van Orden’s district — is not turning out in the numbers we need.
Democrat Susan Crawford has already stated she will redraw congressional maps if she’s elected.
So, if Western Wisconsin does NOT turn…
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) March 29, 2025
Elon Musk: “The Democrats are trying to redraw the districts in Wisconsin… to remove two house seats. That’s what this whole Supreme Court Justice race is about. So I really want to emphasize to people out there, if you’re in Wisconsin.. get out and vote for Brad Schimel.” pic.twitter.com/CW7Urdm5ua
— America (@america) March 29, 2025
Because of its critical nature, money has poured into the Badger State making it the most expensive state Supreme Court race in history.
CNN reported that according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact, as of midday Friday, “advertisers from both sides … have already combined to spend more than $70 million.” Crawford supporters have outspent Schimel supporters “by about $40 million to $33 million.”
No one understands the stakes of this race better than President Donald Trump, which is likely why he has enlisted Elon Musk to get involved. Musk, who has spent approximately $20 million via two political action committees, is the single largest donor.
One of these, Musk’s America PAC, recently began circulating a petition condemning activist judges like Crawford. It read: “Judges should interpret laws as written, not rewrite them to fit their personal or political agendas. By signing below, I’m rejecting the actions of activist judges who impose their own views and demanding a judiciary that respects its role—interpreting, not legislating.”
The PAC promised to pay $100 to each registered Wisconsin voter who signed the petition and another $100 to those who referred others to sign.
Additionally, in a Friday morning post on X, Musk announced he will be hosting a town hall event in Wisconsin on Sunday evening where he plans to present $1 million checks to two individuals who agree to serve as spokespeople for the petition. To qualify, the recipients must have already cast their votes in the race.
The post was later deleted and replaced with the following:
On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin.
To clarify a previous post, entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges.
I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2025
On Friday afternoon, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued Musk to put an end to his “$1 million giveaway.”
Kaul announced his lawsuit on X: “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend.”
— Attorney General Josh Kaul (@WisDOJ) March 28, 2025
On Saturday morning, The Associated Press reported that Columbia County Circuit Judge Andrew Voigt “refused to hear the request for an emergency injunction to block the payments.” Kaul immediately filed an appeal.
It is unclear if Musk plans to go forward with the payments.
We can only hope that Republican Wisconsinites heed Pressler’s warning. He’s not bluffing. Last week, he sounded the alarm over a special election for a state Senate seat in Pennsylvania which was ignored. In “ruby red Lancaster, PA,” Republican candidate Josh Parsons lost to his Democratic opponent James Malone by 482 votes, a margin of less than 1%.
Afterward, Republican activist Tony Lane noted on X, “Republicans just lost a key special election in Pennsylvania. @ScottPresler pleaded with the GOP weeks ago—Democrats were outspending us and we needed to act. We didn’t. We need every seat we can get. This is the cost of ignoring the warning.”
SHOCKING RESULTS: GOP loses special senate election in ruby red Lancaster, PA
Here's the email I just sent to the Citizens Alliance family with my thoughts.
— Cliff Maloney (@Maloney) March 26, 2025
Although Republicans turned out for President Trump in November, the GOP has a notorious track record of losing winnable special elections—often the most critical contests. Trump needs a Republican majority in Congress to advance his agenda. A loss on Tuesday would set the stage for the second half of his term to be dominated by relentless impeachment attempts from House Democrats and countless politically motivated investigations.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
Well, I did my part….voted early!
It seems to me, there used to be a national committee whose job it was to put money and boots on the ground. RNC has disappeared.
Trump gave Laura all the appreciation and applause, but it was Scott walking the streets and knocking on doors. Y himself originally and finally with a small posey
It could be worse.
THEY could have David Hogg.
Pressler should be running the RNC hands down
He did more than “Laura” by a mile
He won Pennsylvania for Trump
Lara is a good fundraiser. No reason multiple people can’t be involved
Lara Trump is no longer co chair of RNC, she stepped down in December.
Pressler has been doing the very difficult work on the ground, glad to.see him getting recognition for it. Would be better if some folks in other purple States would use his model, do the tough work on the ground and with the financial support of the RNC.
Hope people are listening to Pressler, bless him, he is such a happy warrior.
Pay attention to those not promoting him or this race – they are not helpful
Bless Musk for pouring $20 million into this race.
Hope we win this – or Wisconsin elections could be lost for a long time.
I will be voting in person on election day.
There are those of us who believe this is the only way voting should occur. Every other way is freeway to fraud.
In Pennsylvania, there were more mail-in votes tallied than mail-in ballots returned.
Go figure.
Mistake. Vote now.
Do you have a citation for that? I don’t even understand what it means; what is the “mail-in vote tally” other than a count of the mail-in ballots returned?
we are once again being misled
its not that that gop isnt turning out
its that the mail in ballots are the rigged votes and by claiming its the gop fault for not turning out they can cloud the issue,,ONCE AGAIN and have us not focus on the lefts biggest weapon
mail in votes
there is noooo way to verify mail in votes legitimacy
we all know it
SAME WAY THAT $$$$$ GOES OUT (from the government)TO PEOPLE WHO DONT EXIST
there is no way to verify the info until way later ,,if at all
then its…oh sorry about that…excuses
“outspending” us??
correct verbiage:
the dems are out cheating us!!!
Welcome to reality, LI’s comment-section regulars who’ve gotten cocky b/c of Trump’s popularity. This result from PA, and the likelihood of defeat in WI, confirm what I and many others outside of this echo chamber have been warning you about for months: that the risk of losing the House in 2026 is real.
And as Ms. Stauffer warns, the consequences of that loss will be disastrous.
That’s why Trump couldn’t afford to alienate voters by doing stupid things like changing the name of the Gulf, and picking fights with Canada and Greenland.
Cry more, leftist.