The Democratic National Committee has launched a six-figure investment in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in support of liberal candidate Susan Crawford.
The investment comes exactly two weeks ahead of the technically nonpartisan April 1 election that will determine the state Supreme Court’s ideological balance for the second time in two years and coincides with today’s kickoff of early voting.
The DNC describes the move as the party’s earliest-ever electoral investment after a November election.
Party officials said the investment, which will officially go to the Wisconsin Democratic coordinated campaign, is intended to help counter the millions of dollars spent so far by outside groups with ties to Elon Musk.
“When I went to Wisconsin to knock doors last month, folks told me they don’t want billionaires like Elon Musk running our federal government and they certainly don’t want him buying our elections,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “After what I heard on the ground, we’re investing earlier than ever before. The best way to curb Elon Musk’s influence is to organize everywhere, win races, and stop him in his tracks.”
The investment, which will also aid the Democratic candidate in the battleground’s state school superintendent race, will help fund grassroots organizing efforts aimed at phone and text banking to reach voters.
The race features a face-off between Brad Schimel, a conservative state judge in Waukesha County who previously was the state’s Republican attorney general, and Crawford, a liberal state judge in Madison.