WI-SUPREME COURT: Supreme Court Race Could Be Most Expensive in U.S. History
Get ready for an onslaught of campaign spending, nasty repetitive ads and misleading claims. The April race for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, experts predict, will be the most expensive such race, not just in Wisconsin, but probably in U.S. history.
“The previous record for a judicial race in the nation was for $15 million,” said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, referencing the 2004 campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court, which the Brennan Center for Justice estimated was the most expensive judicial election. “This is likely to cost much more, tens of millions of dollars,” he told Urban Milwaukee.
“I predict total spending will exceed $50 million,” said former Democratic legislator and UW-Milwaukee Professor Emeritus Mordecai Lee. “I’d expect the attack ads to be as vitriolic, or worse, than the Johnson-Barnes race. It’s going to be cringe worthy.”
If that estimate seems high, consider that the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Ron Johnson and Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes attracted $125 million in outside group spending. Yes, control of the U.S. Senate was at stake, but there were many other races in the nation to spend on in November, whereas no race this spring is as crucial as Wisconsin’s high court election.
“We’re going to be awash in outside money,” said Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks campaign spending. “Republican donors like Diane Hendricks, Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce are likely to go all in, and on the liberal side, A Better Wisconsin Together and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin will be raising and spending tons of cash.”
https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2023/01/25/back-in-the-news-supreme-court-race-could-be-most-expensive-in-u-s-history/
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