Outspent and Victorious

Republicans, even the one who steps away from Donald Trump, can be very slick.

Ingraham: Why did the Republicans lose that judicial race in Wisconsin?

Miller: You got to remember, candidates do matter. In this case, we did not have a particularly good one. Democrats also have a ton of out-of-state money that came in pic.twitter.com/mczSlQwOQN

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 2, 2025

Democrats did raise a lot of money from out-of-state. However 

With ideological control of the court again at stake, the race shattered the record set just two years ago. Through today, WisPolitics had tracked $107 million in overall spending through independent expenditure filings with the state, data from AdImpact, information from media buyers and sources with knowledge of the efforts. That includes $58.2 million by Schimel and those supporting him and $48.8 million by Crawford and those backing her.

The spending was dominated by big donors. George Soros donated $2 million to the state Dem Party, while Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker chipped in $1.5 million. The party then poured $11.4 million into Crawford’s campaign.

On the GOP side, Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks has given $3.6 million to the state Republican Party since Jan. 1, while Illinois businesswoman Liz Uihlein kicked in $2.2 million, and her husband Dick Uihlein gave the party another $1.7 million. It transferred $9.5 million to Schimel’s campaign.

Still, no donor was more influential than Musk, who appeared in Green Bay over the weekend.

The billionaire business owner and top aide to Trump plus two aligned PACs put in more than  $24 million, according to the WisPolitics tally. That includes $12.6 million by America PAC and another nearly $8.7 million by Building America’s Future PAC.

Musk personally gave the state GOP $3 million. And the $24.3 million doesn't include what America PAC handed out to registered voters who signed a petition opposing "activist judges." Those who did that- and provided personal information the PAC could use for GOTV efforts- received $100 per person.. The PAC offered other incentives as part of its turn out the vote efforts, including three $1 million awards to people who signed the online petition.

In the land of Trump- with which Jason Miller no longer is directly involved- Miller is nowhere near the most vial nor most dishonest. He's not even the most vial Trump acolyte named Miller because that honor clearly goes to Stephen.  But complaining about spending by Democrats when Elon Musk is on the other side is a little rich.

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