Crawford airs new ad tying Schimel to Musk in Wisconsin Supreme Court race

Liberal candidate Susan Crawford’s campaign is up with a new ad tying conservative candidate Brad Schimel to Elon Musk in the high-stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

“How corrupt is Brad Schimel? Let’s count the ways,” says a narrator in the 30-second ad, news of which was first shared with The Hill. “One, Schimel gave a plea deal to a man caught with child porn. After the man’s lawyer gave his campaign thousands of dollars.”

“Two, Schimel let 6,000 rape kits sit untested for years, then lied about it,” it continues. “Three, now Elon Musk is trying to buy Schimel a seat on the Supreme Court because he knows Schimel always helps his big campaign donors.”

The narrator concludes: “That’s Brad Schimel and he’s way too corrupt for the Supreme Court."

The ad will be aired on cable and broadcast statewide, predominantly in the Milwaukee and Madison markets. It’s the first time Crawford’s campaign is invoking Musk in one of her ads.

Schimel’s campaign hit back at Crawford’s ad in a statement to The Hill.

“While Susan Crawford plays the victim and the media falls for her spin, she has spent more than any judicial candidate in American history thanks to George Soros, Reid Hoffman, and JB Pritzker funneling money to her campaign," Spokesperson Jacob Fischer wrote.

“She sees the April 1 election as the path to a new gerrymander that will flip 2 seats to the Democrats,” Fischer added.

He was referencing reporting that Crawford appeared on a donor advisory briefing, which was advertised in an emailed subject line as “Time-sensitive: Chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026” — implying she would vote favorably on congressional districting litigation brought by Democrats.

Crawford has said there was no mention of congressional redistricting on the call and that she was only there to offer a small biography about herself and why she was running. Her campaign has said she hasn’t commented publicly or privately on the congressional maps.

The Democratic judicial candidate's campaign has spent at least $22 million in advertising in total in the race compared to Schimel’s campaign, who’s spent about $9.3 million, according to The Wall Street Journal, which sited figures from AdImpact.

Crawford and Schimel are competing for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court next month to replace retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Whoever wins in the April 1 election will determine the ideological balance of the court, which currently has a 5-4 liberal majority with Bradley.

Crawford's campaign ad also references a plea deal that involved Schimel when he was Waukesha County district attorney. His office had charged a man with a count of child pornography possession.

The defendant’s attorney wrote to Schimel at one point, noting they had had “several informal conferences” regarding the case and that it was his understanding that Schimel’s office would recommend the three-year mandatory minimum sentence in prison and then a subsequent three-year extended supervisory period if his client pled guilty, according to a letter obtained by Wisconsin Watch.

The case was developing while Schimel was running for Wisconsin attorney general.

The Waukesha County district attorney’s office ultimately recommended those terms in the sentencing hearing, according to WPR. Schimel was serving as state attorney general by the time of the hearing.

Multiple news outlets have noted that the defendant’s lawyer had made thousands of dollars’ worth of campaign contributions to Schimel between 2013 and 2014. The conservative candidate denied that the campaign contributions created a conflict of interest in a statement to WPR in January and noted he’s received contributions for past campaign runs from attorneys. He said told the news outlet that “there’s nothing about this that has resulted in anything underhanded.”

The ad also touches on Schimel’s handling of untested rape kits when he was Wisconsin attorney general. The Green Bay Press Gazette reported in February 2017 that Schimel’s office had tested 9 rape kits from a backlog of roughly 6,000. He had already served two years as the state’s top prosecutor at that point and had received grant money to aid in testing the kits.

By September 2018, over 4,100 rape kits had been tested and Schimel defended his handling of the matter, saying at the time it was “a capacity question,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and noting that officials were able to ramp up testing after they were able to get three labs to aid in the testing efforts.

The ad also references Musk’s involvement in this year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Musk said it was important to vote “Republican” in the race, despite the fact that the election is technically nonpartisan. However, Schimel is the only conservative candidate running for the spot.

Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, has spent close to $6.6 million in support of Schimel and to oppose Crawford, according to the latest campaign finance filing available on Wednesday morning. Building America’s Future, a group that’s previously received funding from the tech billionaire in the past, is spending $4.5 million so far in the race.

Musk is not the only major player investing in the race. Republicans note Democratic donors like George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have also spent heavily, too.

During the only televised debate between Schimel and Crawford, Schimel said he was looking for the support of Wisconsin voters and said he can’t control what other groups do.

“We’re not allowed to coordinate with outside groups. I don’t — I haven’t solicited that money from them,” he said during the debate when asked about the contributions he’s received generally. “They’ve made this decision on their own to support my campaign, and they’ve decided what their messaging looks like without any assistance from me.”

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