Start Of Early Voting In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Will Test Enthusiasm On Both Sides

Republicans and Democrats fighting for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court will get a sense Tuesday of how energized their sides are with the start of early in-person voting for the hotly contested race.

Voting begins two weeks before the April 1 election between Republican-backed Brad Schimel and Democratic-supported Susan Crawford in a race for an open seat that will determine whether liberals will continue to have a slim majority on the highest court in a crucial presidential battleground.

The race, which has drawn the attention of President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk and attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending, is seen as a litmus test of how voters are responding to the first months of Trump's Republican presidency.

It comes after the Democratic-backed candidate won in 2023 and flipped control of the state Supreme Court to liberals for the first time in 15 years. Since then, the court has thrown out Republican-drawn legislative maps, which led to Democratic gains in the November election, and reinstated absentee-ballot drop boxes. It's heard a case challenging an 1849 law banning abortions in the state but has yet to issue its ruling. Cases related to the strength of public sector unions , voting rules and congressional district boundaries are likely to lie ahead.

The race is the most expensive court race on record in the U.S., with spending at 59 million, the Brennan Center for Justice said Monday based on its own tally. The amount broke the record set by the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in 2023 and is sure to go higher, with the election still two weeks away.