Conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel raised $1.5 million over the past six months, bringing his overall haul for the campaign to $2.2 million.
Schimel’s campaign said today the haul is more than double what any Supreme Court candidate in Wisconsin history has raised during the July to December period ahead of a spring election. The campaign added that Schimel finished 2024 with $1.8 million in the bank.
By comparison, former conservative Justice Daniel Kelly had $276,554 cash on hand at the end of 2022 as he sought unsuccessfully in April 2023 to win an open seat on the court. Liberal Janet Protasiewicz, who won that race to flip ideological control of the court, had $716,214 cash on hand at the end of 2022.
Schimel, a Waukesha County judge and former GOP attorney general, is set to face Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford April 1 with ideological control of the court at stake once again. They were the only two who filed nomination papers by yesterday’s deadline to qualify for the race.
Campaign finance reports detailing activity over the final six months of 2024 are due next week.
Campaign finance reports detailing activity over the final six months of 2024 are due next week. Crawford hasn’t yet released her fundraising figure for the period. She reported in July that she had raised $461,274 in the three weeks after launching her bid and had $433,362 in the bank.
Schimel formally launched his campaign in late November 2023.
