Spring Green, Wisconsin
Thursday, April 3, 2025 | Vol. 6, No. 6 FREE, Single-Copy
Inside this edition
What the Supreme Court election means for Wisconsin
Read our editorial update online
Results of SW Wisconsin Deer Study
Pages 1, 2
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Page 7
Here’s what Susan Crawford’s state Supreme Court win means for Wisconsin
Liberals will control the court until at least 2028 — with implications for abortion rights, congressional redistricting, labor rights and the environment. Jack Kelly, Wisconsin Watch
Susan Crawford’s win in Tuesday’s record-smashing Wisconsin Supreme Court election paves the way for the court’s liberal majority to continue to flex its influence over state politics. The Dane County Circuit Court judge’s victory guarantees that liberals will control the court until at least 2028. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is at the center of state politics. It has been since 2020, when it denied Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and has continued to make headlines — especially since flipping to liberal control in August 2023. For the past two years, Justices Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky, Janet Protasiewicz and Ann Walsh Bradley — who collectively make up the court’s liberal majority — have flexed their authority and remade Wisconsin’s political landscape. Crawford, who will be sworn in on Aug. 1, will replace the retiring Walsh Bradley, who has served on the high court for 30 years. Here’s what Crawford’s victory could mean for some key issues. 1. Abortion rights The Wisconsin Supreme Court seems poised to, in some form or the other,
Picture by Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-elect Susan Crawford, shown behind the podium microphone, celebrates her win against Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel in the spring election, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. Joining her at the podium are the rest of the liberal majority she will join on the court. From left, justices Jill Karofsky, Rebecca Dallet and Janet Protasiewicz. strike down the state’s 1849 abortion law — which bans almost all abortions in the state. The court’s current justices in November 2024 heard oral arguments in the lawsuit challenging the statute. It was filed by Attorney General Josh Kaul in the days after Roe vs. Wade was overturned. The lawsuit asks the court to determine whether the 1849 law applies to consensual abortions. It also asks whether the 1849 ban was “impliedly repealed” when the Legislature passed additional laws — while Roe was in effect — regulating abortion after fetal viability. A Dane County judge ruled in late 2023 that the 1849 statute applied to feticide, not consensual abortions. Abortion ser-
vices, which were halted in the state after Roe was overturned, have since resumed. Crawford’s opponent, conservative Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel, argued during the campaign that the liberal majority was delaying its ruling in the case “to keep the 1849 law a live issue” in the race. While working in private practice, Crawford represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in litigation related to abortion access. Crawford’s victory on Tuesday ensures the court’s upcoming ruling is likely to remain intact — at least for now — meaning abortion will remain legal in Wisconsin. 2. Congressional redistricting
The liberal majority’s decision to throw out the state’s Republican-gerrymandered legislative maps, breaking a GOP lock on the state Legislature, has been its most influential ruling since taking power. As a result, Democrats picked up 14 seats in the Assembly and state Senate in 2024 in a good Republican year nationwide. However, during the same time period, the high court denied a request to reconsider the state’s congressional maps without stating a reason. The maps were drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, but under a “least change” directive from a previous conservative court, so they remained GOP-friendly. But in the liberal court’s legislative redistricting decision, it overturned the “least change” precedent. Crawford’s victory opens a window for Democrats and their allies to once again challenge the maps, potentially using the argument that the current lines were drawn under rules that have since been rejected. The future of the congressional districts were a key issue in this year’s state Supreme Court race. Elon Musk, who spent some $20 million to boost Schimel’s candidacy, said at a rally in Green Bay last weekend that a potential redrawing of the maps is what made the race so important. He called Tuesday’s election “a vote for which party controls the U.S. House of
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Unofficial local April 1, 2025 Spring Election results
River Valley School District
Iowa County
Richland County
Sauk County