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.]
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 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.”
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.”
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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