Amid Musk donations, Schimel says he'd 'examine' recusing from cases involving Tesla, other companies
ELKHORN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- At a rally with Walworth County Republicans Monday, Brad Schimel, the GOP-backed candidate for state Supreme Court, opened his remarks with an impersonation of President Donald Trump during the president's call to Schimel Friday giving an official endorsement in the April 1 statewide election.
"Call comes, I answer it," Schimel said before shifting his voice to a deeper pitch. "'Hello Brad, it's your favorite president.' We had a great talk."
Schimel told supporters he'd gotten advance notice about one week earlier Mr. Trump would be endorsing him. It's the latest example of national attention on a race that will decide control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Progressive-minded justices currently have a 4-3 majority on the high court.
Outside the Elkhorn event, about 30 protesters held signs largely targeting President Trump's special advisor, billionaire Elon Musk. Schimel appeared with Musk virtually on Saturday on Musk's social media platform, X.
Musk said on the 'X Spaces' forum he was openly backing Schimel because the court could decide a future challenge to the state's congressional voting maps. Currently, Republicans have six of Wisconsin's eight U.S. House seats.
Last year, the court's liberal majority struck down voting maps for the state's legislative districts. The older maps, drawn by Republicans, gave the GOP a near super majority in the Assembly and Senate.
"Given that the congressional majority is so razor thin," Musk said during the Saturday forum, "It could cause the House to switch to Democrat."
Speaking to reporters after the rally, Schimel downplayed the idea of his race being a referendum on how voters view the first two months of President Trump's second term, as well as the influence Musk now has over the federal government.
"What matters to me is the vote in Wisconsin to save our Supreme Court," Schimel said. "If someone views it as something bigger than that, that's up to them."
One of Musk's companies, Tesla, is suing the state of Wisconsin over its law banning car manufacturers from running their own dealerships. On Monday, an Outagamie County court found Tesla does not have grounds to bring the case there, and a Tesla attorney moved to shift the case to Milwaukee County.
Schimel, a Waukesha County circuit court judge, was noncommittal when asked whether, if elected, he'd recuse himself from any cases involving Tesla or another Musk-owned company.
"If his reason is to support me because he thinks he's gonna get a result he wants, he might be supporting the wrong candidate," Schimel said. "I will do the same thing I do in every case. I will examine whether I can truly hear that case objectively. It's the same thing we ask of every juror that hears a case."
Breaking down campaign spending
Schimel's opponent, Democratic-backed Dane County circuit court judge Susan Crawford, criticized Musk's influence on the race during a campaign stop Monday in Janesville.
"He's willing to have the Supreme Court be bought off by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk," Crawford said. "So, I think it would be a really sad day for Wisconsin."
In the campaign's closing days, both candidates are taking aim at the other's donations. Schimel has noted liberal mega donors such as George Soros and JB Pritzker have given Crawford a lift through donations to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
"She's gotten way more money than I have," Schimel said. "Her campaign has so much more cash than I have."
In this race, campaign finance is a tale of two stories. In terms of spending by the actual campaigns, Crawford does have a clear advantage. Tracking by the firm Ad Impact found Crawford's campaign has spent $22.9 million on media advertising, including future reservations. That number is more than double the $10.3 million Schimel's campaign has spent.
However, totals compiled by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign show outside spending, known as independent expenditures, has heavily favored Schimel.
About half of the outside spending on Schimel's behalf came from America PAC and Building America's Future, two entities largely funded by Musk.
Protesters outside the event specifically decried Musk's spending on the race. One of them even dressed like Musk and stood next to a giant fake check depicting a payment to Schimel.
"I support Crawford, and I don't want our election to be stolen by Elon Musk buying it," Gigi Pomerantz, a protester from Milwaukee, said.
Musk maintained he would not be influenced by Musk's support. He said questions about district level federal judges' authority to pause executive actions should be addressed soon by the U.S. Supreme Court, but beyond that, was focusing strictly on matters involving the state Supreme Court.
"Elon Musk has one promise from me. I will follow the law," Schimel said when asked about the lawsuit. "Elon Musk is supporting me based on that promise. You'd have to ask him if he has some other motivation."