Hakeem Jeffries Counting On Leftist WI Supreme Court Candidate To Deliver House For Democrats
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford claims she had no idea that a call she was on with wealthy leftist donors was about how Democrats could use the court to grab a couple of Wisconsin congressional seats.
She insists she didn’t see until later the email inviting well-heeled donors to “hear and question” Crawford and noting the April 1 Supreme Court election could “result in Democrats being able to win two additional US House seats, half the seats needed to win control of the House in 2026.”
No problem. Her powerful Democratic Party friends know that Crawford knows the math.
“Wisconsin, that’s a 50/50 race, because we know Wisconsin is a 50/50 state. We have a strong Democratic candidate. Whoever wins is going to determine who has the majority in the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at Monday’s Democratic National Committee update with DNC chairman Ken Martin.
Jeffries went on to explain why that’s important. He said Wisconsin’s congressional boundaries are “gerrymandered” because they were previously drawn by a Republican-controlled legislature. But if far-left candidate Crawford wins, the liberals hold on to their narrow 4-3 majority and they can gerrymander the maps to benefit Dems.
“Wisconsin is a 50/50 state, as I mentioned, but there are six Republicans and only two Democrats out of an eight-person [congressional] delegation,” the House Democratic leader said.
“The lines are broken, right? As soon as possible, we need to be able to revisit that and have fair lines,” Jeffries continued. “The only way for that to be even a significant possibility is if you have an enlightened Supreme Court.”
An enlightened Supreme Court? Or, perhaps better put, a political Supreme Court used to do the bidding of Democrats. And in this case, Crawford’s critics assert, an expensive bought-and-paid for Supreme Court.
Stink of Conflict
During the only debate of the campaign season earlier this month, Crawford was pressed on the issue. Did she think it was appropriate to appear on such a donor advisor call? She conceded that the email invitation sent out was not an appropriate way to announce a judicial candidate. Crawford said her appearance on the Zoom meeting was brief, and she insists there was no mention of congressional maps while she was there.
“I don’t know what they discussed for the rest of it, but certainly no mention was made of the congressional maps while I was in [the meeting],” Crawford said.
Crawford then claimed the she “did not see that email or the way it was being billed.”
“I only found out about that after the fact,” she said. Maybe. But her involvement sure had the stink of conflict all over it.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin late last month announced that a complaint alleging Crawford crossed an ethical line had been filed. Crawford’s campaign, once again, did not return The Federalist’s request for comment.
$100 Million Race
Crawford’s donors expect a solid return on their investment. Jeffries is putting his (or at least his donors’) money where his mouth is. The minority leader’s campaign committee cut Crawford’s campaign an $18,000 donation on St. Patrick’s Day, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
The race — pitting Crawford, a leftist Dane County judge, against conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel — could top $100 million in spending, some campaign finance trackers predict. This year’s contest already has smashed the record for the most costly judicial race in U.S. history, beating the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
The latest campaign finance filings released this week show Crawford’s campaign raking in nearly $17.3 million since early February, with a total of about $24 million since launching last summer. Additionally, Crawford’s campaign committee reported raising another $1.2 million since the committee report filing deadline, with nearly $700,000 of that coming from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Crawford’s campaign reported $10,000 combined from the National Democratic Redistricting Committee PAC. The NDRC is led by Eric Holder, President Barack Obama’s attack dog attorney general.
“The National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) is a Democratic Party PAC (political action committee) conceived in late 2016 by political operatives in the Democratic Party and the Obama administration, including President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder,” nonprofit tracker InfluenceWatch reports.
Billionaire Brawl
Schimel’s campaign continued to lag his opponent’s totals. The conservative judge drew nearly $7.3 million to his campaign coffers since early February, according to campaign finance reports. The campaign has raised just north of $10 million since its launch.
But Schimel has gotten a big assist from the left’s Public Enemy No. 2, Elon Musk. Political action committees tied to the multibillionaire owner of social media platform X and SpaceX — and close adviser to President Trump — have spent some $13 million thus far in backing the conservative candidate. Musk reportedly has personally donated $3 million to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, including $1 million in February.
Musk’s involvement has been quite upsetting to the left, whose members have been known to torch and vandalize the businessman’s Teslas and related property. Democrats don’t like to mention that Crawford is backed by some of the wealthiest liberals in America.
Billionaire leftist George Soros, according to the latest campaign finance reports, has cut $2 million in checks to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, money used to plug Crawford and attack Schimel. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, another billionaire liberal, has dropped $1.5 million into the DPW’s coffers even though he signed a bill banning out-of-state contributions in his state. Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell PAC kicked in $18,000 to the cause of leftist justice. And failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ Speak Up PAC dropped $5,000 on Crawford’s quest.
The vast majority of Crawford’s campaign contributions — nearly four out of every five — are coming from people who can’t vote in Wisconsin elections, according to the campaign finance reports. Her out-of-state haul includes a $5,000 donation from actor Kevin Bacon, and a $20,000 contribution from director Steven Spielberg.
‘Blatant Corruption’
For a “nonpartisan” state Supreme Court election, the Badger State race has attracted a lot of national attention. There’s much riding on what the Wall Street Journal has billed as “the most important election of 2025.” Topping that list is what a leftist Wisconsin Supreme Court means for the national political calculus. If Democrats take back the House next year, they will do all they can to grind President Trump’s agenda to a halt. In many ways, next Tuesday’s election in a swing state that Trump won by about 28,000 votes in November is being billed — rightly or wrongly — as the first major test of the president’s support. Democrats definitely are painting the race that way.
The biggest players on the right and the left have weighed in on the race. Trump has endorsed Schimel, calling Crawford the “handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country.”
And on Tuesday, just a week before the election, Obama injected himself into the race.
“If you live in Wisconsin – or have friends or family who do – there’s an important Supreme Court race happening right now. And there’s only one candidate ready to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites: Judge Susan Crawford,” Obama posted on his X account. He added, “We’ve all seen how important judges are in protecting our rights,” a nod to the activists federal judges, some of whom he appointed, that are running roughshod over the separation of powers.
Schimel’s campaign released a statement Tuesday asserting Democrat leaders like Jeffries are saying “the quiet part out loud.”
“This is blatant corruption,” campaign spokesman Jacob Fischer said. “While Susan Crawford tries to hold these conversations on private Zoom fundraisers, the Democrat Party is taking her playbook public. Susan Crawford is an activist judge assigned to do exactly what national Democrats tell her to.”
For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
Jesus Christ is King
Comments are closed.