Why Wisconsin's Supreme Court Election Matters Nationally

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tens of millions are being spent. Donald Trump, Jr. and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) are holding rallies for their preferred candidates. It's the kind of thing seen for statehouse or congressional races — not necessarily state supreme court elections. We look at Wisconsin's upcoming state supreme court election, and why it is getting so much national attention.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and Wisconsin Public Radio capitol reporter Anya van Wagtendonk.

The podcast is produced by Bria Suggs & Kelli Wessinger and edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Toby from Western North Carolina.
0:03.4	I'm currently in Ansan, South Korea, where I'm just about to start the first day of my last semester of my master's program at Hanyang University.
0:11.6	This program was recorded at...
0:13.6	108 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19th.
0:17.1	Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but I will be one step closer to graduation.
0:21.7	All right.
0:22.3	Here's the show.
0:26.9	Early congratulations there.
0:28.7	I do love that people like to share their accomplishments on our podcast, like as if we're like post-secret or something, you know?
0:37.4	Makes me feel very unaccomplished all the time.
0:40.5	Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.
0:42.9	I'm Tamara Keith.
0:43.6	I cover the White House.
0:45.1	I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.
0:48.1	And Anya Van Wagtendong of Wisconsin Public Radio is with us from Madison.
0:52.6	Hi, Anya.
0:53.4	Hey.
0:56.9	Today on the show, we are looking at Wisconsin's upcoming Supreme Court election on April 1st, which is turning into a very expensive
1:03.4	fight over the balance of power on the state's high court. And, Anya, we are talking about a state
1:10.0	Supreme Court race, but the stakes are high. There are two candidates. Tell us about them and why this race matters for the court's composition.
1:18.7	Yeah. So there's essentially they're representing both ends of the ideological spectrum. There's Brad Schimmel, who is the conservative candidate. He's currently a judge in Waukesha County, which is a suburb of Milwaukee,
1:29.8	former a Republican Attorney General, and before that he was a DA. And then there's Susan Crawford,
	...

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