MADISON, Wis. — Last week, WisDems Chair Ben Wikler was joined by Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein and Democratic leaders in Sauk City to host the first of a statewide series of People v. Musk Grassroots Town Halls to sound the alarm about Elon Musk’s ongoing attempt to buy Brad Schimel a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Already, Musk-funded groups have poured in more than $5 million to bankroll Schimel’s campaign.
Local leaders and community members expressed their determination to reject Brad Schimel and Elon Musk on April 1. Wisconsinites deserve to have a common sense judge who respects their vote and will protect their freedoms. Judge Susan Crawford is the answer.
Watch the town hall opening remarks and see what our Democratic leaders had to say in part below:
Chair Ben Wikler: “The rest of the country is watching [Musk’s attacks] unfold and people are flooding their members of Congress with phone calls. Maybe they’re going to protest. But they don’t have a vote in 26 days. Here in Wisconsin, we get to cast a ballot. We get to cast a ballot on whether Elon Musk’s best friend in Wisconsin politics, apparently, Brad Schimel— whether he gets to get to our state Supreme Court and to become a bag man and hatchet man for Trump and Musk. We get to cast a ballot on whether Susan Crawford, who has actually spent a life in public service, who has worked as a prosecutor, who’s worked at the Department of Justice, who’s worked to enforce our environmental laws at the DNR, who in private practice defended Planned Parenthood in a case called Planned Parenthood v. Brad Schimel. Whether Susan Crawford, who now serves as a judge and meets out justice without fear or favor, whether she becomes the tiebreaking vote on our state Supreme Court. […] These can be hairline races and the level of energy among people who believe that our Supreme Court should follow the law and the Constitution, not just the whims of the richest person in the world—the votes of people who share those concerns can decide the outcome of this race in a way that sends shock waves through the entire country.”
Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein: “Elon is pouring over $5 million into this race, as of today, and why? Because they want to gerrymander our state again, after we went through that hellscape for so many years, they want to do something else, they would rig the maps again. They want all of us to go back to 1849 as Brad Schimel continues to support the abortion ban. They want to hurt workers. They want to keep Act 10 on the books, and they want to continue the inaction on PFAS, those forever chemicals that are in our waters and our soil. But we have a chance to change all that with independent Judge Susan Crawford. […] We know she would be an independent voice for all of us. We know one thing is certain, Wisconsinites cannot be bought.”
