Wisconsin’s state supreme court docket election on April 1 is formally the most expensive in U.S. historical past, with spending that has reached $76 million — with some predictions that the final word tally will prime $100 million, nearly twice the record spending within the state’s 2023 race. The largest right-wing teams operating an assault advert blitz towards liberal candidate Susan Crawford are funded by just a few very regressive out-of-state billionaires utilizing their money like a large megaphone.
Elon Musk and Dick Uihlein are the most important identified backers of Republican Brad Schimel’s efforts to win the swing vote seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom. The uber-controversial Musk has spent over $19 million thus far, backing Schimel. Uihlein is bankrolling a number of groups, together with some, just like the “Girls Communicate Out” PAC, which might be becoming a member of an echo chamber of state anti-abortion groups which might be all-in on Schimel. Becoming a member of the refrain for Schimel are the MAGA get-out-the vote operation Turning Point Action, fossil gas billionaire Charles Koch’s Americans for Prosperity, the Republican State Leadership Committee (which is closely funded by teams tied to Federalist Society co-chair and right-wing cash man Leonard Leo), the far-right House Freedom Action (tied to the Home Freedom Caucus), and the state commerce group known as Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
The stakes are excessive: the end result will determine the destiny of abortion entry, truthful maps, labor rights and extra in that swing state. Large cash is aware of that the composition of the court docket, which for now has a 4-3 progressive majority, hangs within the stability.
This Wisconsin race stands out for the sheer amount of cash being spent, however far-right billionaires and the networks they fund have been spending huge throughout the nation in current elections to put in their most popular candidates on state courts — a key lever of energy and, in some states, a final bastion of protections for democracy.
Why State Courts? Why Now?
State courts are a key line of protection defending what a majority of Individuals need: better-funded public schools, worker protections, access to abortion care and extra. Leo and Koch, particularly, labored for years to capture the U.S. Supreme Courtroom and decrease courts to impose unpopular insurance policies by undemocratic means. Some lesser-known GOP billionaires — akin to Dick Uihlein and Jeffrey Yass –– have additionally entered the state court docket seize effort in recent times.
The significance of state courts has solely grown in recent times. America entered a brand new period for spending in state court docket races in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s partisan 6-3 ruling in Dobbs, which overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent that protected the federal constitutional proper to abortion. That edict despatched the problem of abortion entry to the states. In response, huge cash tied to right-wing megadonors and political operatives has more and more focused state courts to attempt to block entry to abortion. Judicial election spending nearly doubled any earlier midterm cycle’s spending within the 2022 cycle after the Dobbs ruling. The U.S. Supreme Courtroom additionally largely limited the position of federal courts in disputes over redistricting, the method for drawing boundaries in election maps, which might be hijacked and drawn in partisan methods to lock in legislative management.
Two key nationwide teams with ties to Leo, the Republican State Management Committee (RSLC) and the Uihlein-backed Truthful Courts America, have been pushing tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into state court docket elections throughout the U.S. with a purpose to place judges on state benches to advance their agendas. RSLC, whose largest donor in recent years is Leo’s Concord Fund (also referred to as JCN or Judicial Disaster Community), deploys assault adverts through its Judicial Equity Initiative (RSLC-JFI). The Harmony Fund alone gave nearly $3 million to RSLC final yr, which spent practically $4 million proper earlier than the 2024 elections. RSLC-JFI launched a $2 million advert marketing campaign in Wisconsin in February.
Anti-abortion billionaire Dick Uihlein can be deeply concerned in efforts to seize state courts through his Tremendous PAC, Truthful Courts America (FCA), which spends directly on judicial elections and funds other right-wing state-level teams which might be concerned in judicial elections. It’s led by Andrew Wynne, who has also led RSLC-JFI. FCA is closely funded by Uihlein and his Restoration PAC, with some further funding from billionaires akin to Timothy Mellon (a major Trump donor) and poultry magnate Ron Cameron. Notably, the Foundation for Fair Courts, which is also tied to Uihlein’s Restoration PAC, acquired $2.5 million from Leo’s Concord Fund between 2021-2023. FCA spent $5.5 million in Wisconsin in 2023 and has already spent practically $4 million backing Brad Schimel thus far in 2025.
Previous is prologue. Right here is an outline of billionaires and right-wing particular pursuits who spent huge attempting to seize state courts in 2024:
Arizona
In Arizona, huge spending helped retain right-wing supreme court docket justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn Hackett King. These elections took on renewed urgency for reproductive rights activists after the state’s highest court docket allowed an 1864 abortion ban to face within the lead-up to the 2024 election. Bolick has deep ties to the right-wing infrastructure in Arizona: he was the longtime vice chairman of litigation for the Goldwater Institute, a key right-wing authorized advocacy group in Arizona. There, he led efforts to create the “Goldwater Litigation Alliance,” which might later turn into American Juris Hyperlink (AJL), a right-wing litigation center that has intensive funding from the Bradley Basis and teams linked to Charles Koch and Leonard Leo.
Billionaire Randy Kendrick, a board member of the Goldwater Institute, additionally weighed in. She helped launch a brand new group known as the “Judicial Independence Protection PAC,” which backed the incumbent right-wing justices on the Arizona Supreme Courtroom. Dick Uihlein’s FCA additionally spent over $500,000 on adverts within the remaining two weeks of that retention election. Each judges gained their retention elections.
Michigan
In Michigan, Democratic justices Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Thomas defeated their opponents in a landslide, increasing the Democratic majority on the court docket to 5-2. The Republican judicial candidates, Patrick O’Grady and Andrew Fink, have been backed by teams like Right to Life of Michigan and Citizens for Traditional Values PAC.
RSLC-JFI spent greater than $500,000 on adverts backing the Michigan Republicans in October, and the billionaire DeVos household additionally contributed to their election campaigns. A brilliant PAC funded by Michael Bloomberg known as “Justice for All” backed the incumbent justices Bolden and Thomas — as did a gaggle known as “Justice Mission Motion,” amongst others.
Montana
In Montana, the state supreme court docket has been one of many last-standing bulwarks towards what has in any other case been a far-right takeover of the state’s authorities. The court docket, which is nonpartisan, has faced the ire of a hyper-partisan GOP governor, legal professional common, and state legislature. The legislature created a committee in 2024 to “rein in” Montana courts, and it pre-filed 27 payments for 2025, together with payments that will shrink the state supreme court docket and add partisan labels to judicial elections.
The lead to 2024 was blended: Cory Swanson — who was backed by RSLC, the enterprise foyer, and other right-wing interests — was elected as chief justice. RSLC launched a last-minute $300,000 advert marketing campaign on his behalf within the remaining weeks of the election, and later bragged that his election “ensures conservatives have a bonus on the state supreme court docket in Helena.” Katherine Bidegaray, who was backed by the ACLU and Deliberate Parenthood, defeated Republican-backed Dan Wilson for the other open seat.
Uihlein’s FCA additionally weighed in and gave $200,000 to a gaggle known as the “Montana Judicial Accountability Initiative,” which is tied to Republican operative Jake Eaton, whose teams backed Swanson and Wilson.
North Carolina
In North Carolina, Democrat Allison Riggs defeated Republican Jefferson Griffin, though he has refused to concede the race. Griffin’s technique to overturn the election on the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom now hinges on asking his colleagues on the very appeals court docket he sits on to determine the election and discard greater than 60,000 of North Carolinians’ lawfully solid votes.
Notably, Charles Koch’s Individuals for Prosperity spent over $100,000 on mailers backing Griffin, who additionally benefitted from adverts by the state enterprise chamber and different native trade pursuits and different teams with funding from “Citizens for a Better NC,” which itself is funded by RSLC and different nationwide GOP pursuits.
Ohio
Proper-wing pursuits gained huge in Ohio, the place Republicans swept all three seats on the state supreme court docket. This got here after the Republican legislature mandated that political events be listed alongside the names of judicial candidates in 2021. The race drew widespread consideration due to how the end result may have an effect on abortion entry within the state, the place voters approved an modification to enshrine reproductive rights within the state’s structure in 2023, a measure Republicans continue to fight regardless of the desire of the voters.
Forward of the 2024 election, the Republican majority on the Ohio Supreme Courtroom drew outrage after it approved severely deceptive poll language for a measure that was meant to ban partisan gerrymandering, Situation One. The measure didn’t get sufficient votes to move.
To struggle Situation One, a brand new PAC emerged in Ohio, known as Frecka PAC. Its sole funder was plastics producer David Frecka, who pumped $2 million into the group, which in flip spent at least $1.2 million within the state court docket races and opposing Situation One. Frecka has turn into a serious donor to right-wing candidates and causes, together with to the Trump-aligned Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), which recognized Frecka as just a few of a handful of “heroes” of 2021. CPI has been described because the “nerve heart for the rightwing,” that “has turn into a breeding floor for the following era of Trump loyalists and an incubator for insurance policies he would possibly pursue.”
Enterprise pursuits have additionally long spent heavily within the state to elect judges pleasant to company pursuits. A gaggle affiliated with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, known as Ohioans for a Wholesome Economic system Motion (OHE Motion), reported spending over $2.3 million within the race. OHE Motion received $1 million from Uihlein’s FCA. Different massive backers included the Haslam family fortune (which owns the Cleveland Browns) and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. RSLC-JFI additionally reportedly spent round $1 million within the race with misleading ads painting the Democratic candidates as mushy on crime, a canine whistle chorus within the group’s assault adverts throughout the nation.
Texas
Texas additionally noticed an avalanche of out of doors spending in judicial races that Republicans largely swept within the November 2024 elections. Three Republican justices on the state’s nine-member court docket have been up for re-election and won by margins of between 56 to 58 p.c of the vote.
Elon Musk contributed closely to teams spending on Texas judicial races, main a wave of spending that helped flip 23 state court seats to Republicans in 2024. A gaggle known as the Judicial Fairness PAC, for instance, acquired $2 million from Musk, $1 million from Leo’s Harmony Fund and hundreds of thousands extra from oil and gasoline pursuits. The group ultimately spent over $15 million, together with funding a gaggle attacking Harris County Democrats known as “Cease Houston Murders.”
One other group, Texans for Lawsuit Reform — funded by Musk, Miriam Adelson, Harlan Crow and others — spent a complete of $1.2 million on Texas’s 2024 judicial races. The Leo group-fueled RSLC-JFI itself additionally spent practically $2 million backing 10 Republican judicial candidates.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom Has Three Seats Up in November 2025
Pennsylvania additionally has three Democratic seats up for retention in November. This may seemingly imply huge spending by Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey Yass and his “Commonwealth Leaders Fund” to attempt to seize that supreme court docket, as they’ve accomplished in previous cycles. Scott Presler’s “Early Vote Motion” group, which acquired $1 million from Musk in 2024, has already been gearing up for these retention elections, launching three web sites concentrating on every justice up for retention. Final yr, Pressler’s tremendous PAC closely focused just a few swing states, and targeted most deeply on Pennsylvania. If the justices should not retained, the governor would appoint their replacements to serve till 2027, then open elections can be held for the seats, opening up a chance for Republicans to flip the court docket to a 5-2 Republican majority forward of the 2028 elections. “We’ll make Pennsylvania the following Ohio,” Presler said.
Because the Republican-appointees on the U.S. Supreme Courtroom proceed to roll again federal protections, the battle over who sits on these state benches is taking over renewed urgency. State courts handle many more cases than federal courts. State court docket rulings could have far-reaching consequences for the environment, and the rights, well being and freedom of hundreds of thousands of individuals yearly.
What’s at stake are our very freedoms — to decide on who we are able to love, to have entry to healthcare and contraception, to breathe clear air, to have truthful illustration and rather more. State courts are the battleground the place a lot of our rights as Individuals will likely be gained or misplaced.
Be aware: True North’s Government Director Lisa Graves and Researcher Caitlin Mahoney contributed to this text
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