A liberal judge who previously represented Planned Parenthood in a case related to access to abortion entered the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday majority control of the embattled state’s highest court on the line.
Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford launched her campaign to succeed retiring liberal Judge Ann Walsh Bradley, citing her previous work for Planned Parenthood as the battle over an abortion ban in Wisconsin plays out in court.
Crawford joins conservative Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general who opposes abortion, as the only announced candidates. If more than two candidates participate, a primary election will take place on February 18. The winner of the April 1 election will be elected for a ten-year term.
Crawford described the race in a statement as a battle for ideological control of the court.
“For the first time in years, we have a court majority focused on getting the facts right, following the law and protecting our constitutional rights,” Crawford said. “We cannot risk undoing that progress.”
Crawford pledged to “protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites under our Constitution,” which she said were threatened “by an all-out effort to politicize the court to drive a right-wing agenda.”
Crawford also cast herself as tough on crime, highlighting her past work as an assistant attorney general. Past liberal candidates who won elections to the Court have made similar arguments.
“I know we need Supreme Court justices who understand what it takes to keep communities safe, who are impartial and fair, who will use common sense and who will not politicize the Constitution to undermine our most fundamental rights.” , Crawford said.
Crawford’s campaign announcement also took a swipe at Schimel, labeling him a “right-wing extremist” for his support for maintaining Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban. That ban is on hold while two lawsuits challenging the 175-year-old state law are pending in the state Supreme Court.
Schimel accused Crawford of being “handpicked by the left-wing majority on the Supreme Court to tighten their stranglehold for another three years.”
“I have spent my career defending and enforcing Wisconsin law, and she has spent much of her career suing the state of Wisconsin,” Schimel said in a statement. “While I was a front-line prosecutor in court defending crime victims and putting criminals behind bars, she was working for radical left-wing special interest groups that do not share our values.”
The April 1 election will determine who replaces Bradley, who is part of the 4-3 Liberal majority and the longest-serving justice on the court. The election will also determine whether the Liberals will retain majority control until at least 2028, the next time an election for a Liberal judge takes place.
Crawford was elected judge in 2018 and was re-elected to a second term in April. She began her career as a prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office and served as chief legal counsel to former Democratic Governor Jim Doyle. As a private attorney, she fought Republican laws that limited access to abortion, ended collective bargaining for public employees and required photo identification to vote.
Liberals took majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in August 2023 thanks to Janet Protasiewicz’s victory, flipping the court after fifteen years of conservative control.
The court has since issued several major rulings, including a December decision that overturned Republican-drawn maps of the state’s legislative districts. Abortion was also a key issue in Protasiewicz’s race.
