SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN — Judge Susan Crawford and Judge Brad Schimel, candidates for a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court, kicked off their statewide campaign tours Saturday morning.
Schimel began his tour in Waukesha, where he highlighted the endorsement he received from President Donald Trump on Friday to galvanize supporters and volunteers with the Young Republicans National Federation.
“There's a lot of voters who come out and they get excited about November 5th but they don't recognize why April 1st is an important election,” Schimel told reporters. “So yes, we do need to get to those voters with a voice who is probably the biggest voice that there is out there."
In Milwaukee, voters at a listening session for Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore, like Beth Hengst, had a different take.
"The fact that he was endorsed by Trump just adds to, 'do you really want what’s going on in Congress and in the White House and what they're doing—do you really want that coming here?” Hengst said.
“I was very nervous for a while when I had heard that Elon Musk has spent so much money,” she added.
A group backed by billionaire Elon Musk is offering Wisconsin voters one hundred dollars to sign a petition opposing what they call "activist judges.”
Check out: Voters consider Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates as election nears
It’s a move Ann Batiza with Peace Action of Wisconsin said she’s completely against.
‘Bringing money into politics is absolutely the worst thing,” Batiza said. “Influencing someone’s position because of money—we already have too much of that in Congress.”
Batiza said she believes Wisconsin needs to return to more progressive roots.
TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin asked Schimel what he thought of the group's cash incentive.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” he said. “I don’t have anything to do with that.”
Schimel said he only learned of the petition and reward after seeing a news story about it.
“Judges should do their legal opinions in a courtroom,” he added when asked about the legality of the cash incentive. “God knows where that’s going to end up. I don’t know.”
Following his stop in Waukesha, Schimel hosted a livestream on X featuring members of the Republican party and Musk, where the billionaire emphasized his support of the candidate.
In a statement regarding the president's endorsement, the Crawford campaign said they assumed it had been secured months ago and that they believe most voters will support their candidate instead.
They also criticized the cash incentive and Saturday’s livestream.
“Musk is trying to buy the Court for Schimel and secure a favorable ruling in the lawsuit he currently has against the State of Wisconsin,” the statement read.
Volunteers with YRNF from 17 states will spend the next 10 days canvassing for Schimel. Board of Directors member Thomas Turner traveled from Virginia for Wisconsin’s race.
“I came here because I believe that our judges should respect the rule of law and our constitution,” Turner said. “It’s a true testament that our president knows that it is vital that we keep this court conservative.”
Crawford kicked off her state-wide tour in Oshkosh Friday morning. Both candidates will make campaign stops at several counties across Wisconsin leading up to election day.
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