Top donors to Brad Schimel, conservative candidate for Wis Supreme Court (so far)

This story was corrected to reflect that donor Kevin Dretzka is a resident of
 Lake Geneva, WI, not Los Angeles, CA

by The Badger Project, The Badger Project
January 16, 2025

Richard Uihlein and Tim Michels have each given Schimel the maximum $20,000. The Waukesha County judge and former AG has raised about $2 million so far in his campaign for the state’s high court.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge and former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel raised more than $2 million through the end of 2024, according to mandatory campaign finance filings with the state.

By comparison, the political left’s candidate, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, raised nearly $3 million in the same time frame, thanks in part to a $1 million donation from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Per state law, the most a person can give a candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court is $20,000. But a loophole in state campaign finance law allows political parties to raise unlimited amounts and donate unlimited amounts to candidates.

Campaigns for Wisconsin Supreme Court are technically nonpartisan, though both major parties throw their support behind their preferred candidate.

The race projects to be one of the court’s most expensive ever, and perhaps the most. Whichever side’s candidate wins will control the majority of the highest state court in Wisconsin.

The candidates and special interest groups spent a record-smashing $51 million in the last race for state Supreme Court in 2023, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, an organization which tracks campaign finance in the state. That race flipped the majority of the court from the right to the left for the first time in years.

Schimel served one term as Wisconsin Attorney General before he was defeated by current AG Josh Kaul in the 2018 election. Then-Gov. Scott Walker, who also lost that year, appointed Schimel to be a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge before the end of their terms that year.

Schimel is positioning himself as a tough-on-crime adjudicator, one who has “dedicated his career to defending victims, supporting law enforcement, and ensuring that criminals are held accountable.”

“Brad Schimel will take back the Wisconsin Supreme Court and end the madness,” his website reads.

He received a drunken driving citation in 1990 when he was 24 years old. Schimel’s blood alcohol content was 0.14, above the limit at the time of 0.1, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is opening because left-leaning Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring.

If more than two candidates enter the race, a Feb. 18 primary election will be held. The general election will occur on April 1 and the winner will be elected to a 10-year term on the state’s high court.

Donors who have given Schimel the legal maximum $20,000

This article first appeared on The Badger Project and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.