Frederica Freyberg:
The spring election is next Tuesday, and the race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has now surpassed 2023 as the most expensive in U.S. history. Political parties, outside groups and rich individuals on both sides have ratcheted up spending that could approach $100 million by the time it’s over. Elon Musk figures prominently in the spending spree, including saying he would give several Wisconsin people $1 million each for either signing on to a petition opposing activist judges or having voted in the election. Legal action against this is pending. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has endorsed conservative Brad Schimel and Barack Obama publicly throws his support to liberal Susan Crawford. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz tells us if it feels a little bit like a replay of last fall’s election, that’s not an accident.

Zac Schultz:
In December, Brad Schimel held a campaign event featuring his band Four On The Floor. While this was billed as a campaign kickoff, in reality, Schimel had been running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for more than a year at that point.

Brad Schimel:
Over this 12 months, I have now campaigned in 65 counties.

Zac Schultz:
He relaunched his campaign in December because prior to that, most of the attention was on the race for president. Even though Supreme Court elections are technically nonpartisan, the room was full of Republican Party officials and volunteers, and Schimel was not shy about connecting his campaign to the larger conservative movement.

Brad Schimel:
I’ve never seen our side this motivated or this united.

Zac Schultz:
It was clear the strategy was to keep the momentum from Donald Trump’s win in November and carry it all the way to April 1st.

Brad Schimel:
3.4 million Wisconsinites showed up to the polls to vote for president, but we expect only 2 million to show up on April 1st. That means whichever campaign can, can best retain their voters from November will win in April.

Zac Schultz:
A month later, Susan Crawford held a campaign event in Green Bay, introducing herself to a crowd at the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Brown County.

Susan Crawford:
I think you’re all here because you know how important this race is.

Zac Schultz:
The mood in this room was different, something Crawford recognized as a hangover from Kamala Harris’s loss in November.

Susan Crawford:
I think that immediately after the November election, I did sense some, some people that I was talking to just being very disappointed by the outcome of that election.

Landiran Kern, Jr.:
I can definitely tell you it wasn’t a great experience.

Zac Schultz:
Landiran Kern, Jr. was at Crawford’s Green Bay event and can testify to feeling crushed by November’s election.

Landiran Kern, Jr.:
I would definitely say when it came to myself and other students and even adults, morale was very, very low.

Zac Schultz:
We first introduced you to Landiran last summer as he attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as one of the youngest members of the Wisconsin delegation. He started his freshman year at UW-Green Bay, trying to convince other students to vote. But the election nearly pushed him out of politics altogether.

Landiran Kern, Jr.:
It’s like, well, why should I go out and vote? Why should I go and canvass? Why should I help anyone besides myself?

John Beauchamp:
I think coming off of last fall we were pretty well positioned heading in into this spring.

Zac Schultz:
It was just the opposite for John Beauchamp.

John Beauchamp:
With a favorable result of the November election, with Trump winning, I think that really kind of propelled the momentum forward quite a bit. And a lot of people were just ready and willing to get back out there and win again.

Zac Schultz:
John is with the Republican Party of Jefferson County and the Young Republicans. We first introduced you to John at the RNC in Milwaukee. He’s part of the political machine trying to convert Trump voters into Schimel voters.

John Beauchamp:
I think that Schimel is in probably a better place than any Republican conservative candidate I’ve seen in a long while here in Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:
While the Democrats have to worry about low morale, Republicans have to worry about complacency, with Trump supporters thinking his election was the last they needed to worry about.

John Beauchamp:
There’s the, of course, that natural tendency to want to just rest and let’s just, you know, take a little break here.

Zac Schultz:
Historically, Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are sleepy affairs, with turnout just a fraction of presidential elections but 2023 changed everything. That race saw turnout reach 41%, more than double the average over the last decade. Schimel’s prediction of 2 million voters this spring would be 43% turnout, a new record.

Brad Schimel:
I have a packed schedule where I’m out meeting with voters, talking about the importance of this race, and I’m finding that people are plugged in. They haven’t lost, they haven’t lost an ounce of the momentum from November.

Zac Schultz:
Crawford says the focus has returned for her supporters.

Susan Crawford:
For events that I’m attending now, people seem really energized and really enthusiastic. They are also, I think, nervous and afraid by, you know, just a sense that rights are under attack in our country and feeling like they want to do something about that.

Landiran Kern, Jr.:
I was like, I can’t just sit here on the sidelines and allow this to happen.

Zac Schultz:
Landiran is back on board, working with other organizers to canvass votes for Crawford, convincing his college friends that losing an election doesn’t mean you quit voting.

Landiran Kern, Jr.:
Those same friends now, they felt like it was a waste of their vote. And so it’s me trying to ensure them that I know the system seems flawed, and I know it seems like it was unfair, but that election cycle is over. We have to do what we can now, and that’s to get Susan Crawford in.

Zac Schultz:
For Landiran and John that means knocking doors and making calls, just like last fall.

Landiran Kern, Jr.:
I know that we seem like a burden to come and to knock on your door, but it’s that important. And I’ve been saying that since the presidential cycle that it’s that important that you go out and vote.

John Beauchamp:
It’s very easy to forget that the ground game matters, that getting out there, doing the old-fashioned knocking on someone’s door, making the phone calls, sending the postcards out, it all matters.

Zac Schultz:
Reporting from Madison, I’m Zac Schultz for “Here & Now.”