Madison, Wis. – Participation during the first week of early voting before the foundry of Wisconsin Supreme Court of the State It is far superior to the levels of another high -risk election only two years ago, the last sign of the intense interest in a contest that has deleted the expense records and caught the attention of President Donald Trump and his multimillion -dollar advisor, Elon Musk.
Until Tuesday, just one week for the last day of voting, almost 48% more Early flights They have been chosen compared to the same point two years ago, according to data from the Wisconsin Electoral Commission. More than 345,000 voters had returned ballots, either by mail or in person, compared to approximately 233,000 at this time two years ago for another race for a seat of the Supreme Court.
The election will determine if the court will remain under 4-3 liberal control or turn to a conservative majority. One of the current liberal judges is withdrawn.
This year’s career has become A battle of power About the policy of the nation, with Trump and Musk be delayed Brad Schimel, the candidate backed by Republicans in a officially non -partisan career.
“All voters who believe in common sense should vote early by Brad Schimel,” Trump wrote in a real social position at the end of last week.
The total expenditure in the race has reached more than $ 73 million, including more than $ 14 million per group funded by Musk, according to An account Monday by the Brennan Center for Justice. That is the most registered record for any US judicial career, breaking the $ 56 million spent on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Contest in 2023When the control of the majority was also at stake.
All that expense and attention has helped boost early vote, said Kevin Kennedy, former official Wisconsin election official who now works as a consultant. He spoke while taking a break from working in a Madison voting place where people could vote early.
“You are only investing a lot of money,” Kennedy said. “Everything seems to be focused on ‘Let’s take the vote’.”
After previously Be critical From the early vote, Trump and the Republican party are urging their supporters to cast their vote before the last day of voting on April 1. The early vote ends Sunday. THE STRATEGY THAT THEY deployed with great success In the presidential race last year, it seems to be contributing to great increases in participation in the most conservative counties in Wisconsin.
Dane County Circuit Judge supported by Schimel, Dane County Circuit Judge, backed by Democrat Susan CrawfordHe has raised more than $ 25 million for the race to date, including $ 5.5 million from the State Democratic Party since the beginning of February. Your followers Include the democratic megadonor billionaire George Soros and the governor of Illinois JB Pritzker.
Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, had raised more than $ 12 million, which includes more than $ 6 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party since the beginning of February.
But external groups have more than the difference in what the candidates have raised.
The approximately $ 28 million spent by The candidates Until Monday, it was exceeded by the approximately $ 45 million spent so far by external groups, according to the calculation of the Brennan Center. Schimel and his allies, which include groups backed by Musk, have spent around $ 41 million, while Crawford and his followers have spent around $ 32 million.
Voters in Wisconsin are not registered in a political party, so it is impossible to know how many of the tickets already presented come from Republicans or Democrats. But the data show that the greatest increases come from heavy democratic and republican counties.
Milwaukee County, the largest county in the state and the one that most of the Democrats houses, led all the counties in ballots returned with 54,750. That is more than 46% ahead of this point two years ago. Liberal Dane County, the second largest county in the State and the Home of the Madison state capital and the University of Wisconsin, has also seen an increase of 46%.
But the republican parts of the State have also seen great jumps.
The vote was in the three suburban counties of Milwaukee of Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, which are commonly known as Wow’s counties. The returns of the electoral ballot rose more than 62% in Waukesha and 51% in Ozaukee. In Washington, the most republican of the three counties, the early vote was more than double two years ago.
In Brown County, the most populated room in the state, which is reliably republican, early participation increased more than 34%.
While the early vote is high for a spring choice, it is far from what Battleground Wisconsin saw at this point before the presidential race. A week before the elections of November 5, almost 1 million voters had cast their vote, almost four times more than in this race to date.
The race occurs when Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is expected to govern on abortion rights, Redistribution of Congress Districts, Trade union power and voting rules.
On Monday night, the leader of the Democratic minority of the United States Chamber, Hakeem Jeffries, told supporters that choosing Crawford was important for her and other liberal judges to order a redrawn congress lines. Although Wisconsin is a swing state, the lines drawn by the Republicans have allowed the party to have six of their eight seats in Congress.
“As soon as possible, we need to visit that again and have fair lines,” Jeffries said in A LIVE DISCUSSION On the social media platform X. “The only way to be even a significant possibility is whether it has an enlightened supreme court.”
Schimel has accused Crawford of promising the Democrats to draw the lines again. Crawford has denied that.
