GOP Accuses Crawford of ‘Selling’ Congressional Seats
Democratic fundraiser advertised as a 'chance to put two more House seats in play.'
Dane County Judge Susan Crawford. Photo courtesy of Crawford campaign
Republicans are accusing liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford of “selling” two U.S. House seats after she participated in a Democratic donor call focused on how her race could affect the fight for control of Congress.
Crawford’s campaign rejected the accusations, saying she joined the call briefly to share her story, but the dispute could be a sign that redistricting will again be a pivotal issue in this year’s race for the court.
The call with Democratic donors was advertised as a “chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.” A screenshot of an invite to the “donor advisors briefing” Crawford attended was shared by conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel’s campaign.
The invite, sent Jan. 13, references the 2023 Supreme Court election of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz. Her victory gave liberals a majority on the court, which later struck down Republican-drawn state legislative maps as unconstitutional.
The invitation then describes important issues in Wisconsin that “hinge on the outcome” of this year’s Supreme Court race, including whether the court reinstates a law previously interpreted as a criminal ban on abortion.
“But winning this race could also result in Democrats being able to win two additional US House seats, half the seats needed to win control of the House in 2026,” the invite states.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin, which is supporting Schimel, called the email an example of Crawford saying “the quiet part out loud.”
“She is begging to be bought and paid for,” said state GOP Chair Brian Schimming in a statement.
The Schimel campaign issued its own statement claiming Crawford “views the Supreme Court as a political weapon used to undermine the Wisconsin people and deliver favors to out-of-state, liberal elites.”
“Susan Crawford has proven she will do anything in her pursuit of power, even offer congressional seats for support of her campaign,” the statement said.
Crawford campaign spokesperson Derrick Honeyman denied the allegation in a statement and said Crawford is “running to be a fair, impartial, and common sense Justice.”
“She has not publicly or privately commented on congressional redistricting at any time and was on this call briefly to share her background and why she’s running,” Honeyman said.
He also noted Schimel is “the only candidate in this race who has run for partisan office before.” Schimel served four years as Wisconsin’s Republican attorney general.
“Schimel has flown to DC to attend political galas, pledged to ‘nationalize this race,’ and said he expects tens of millions of dollars from extreme groups to prop up his campaign,” Honeyman said.
Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected lawsuit seeking redraw of congressional voting districts last year
Democrats were keen on redrawing Wisconsin’s congressional maps before the November 2024 election after the new liberal majority struck down state Assembly and Senate legislative districts. Less than a month after that ruling, a liberal law firm filed a lawsuit challenging the makeup of Wisconsin’s eight U.S. House districts.
The suit focused on the “least changes” approach the Supreme Court’s former conservative majority adopted in a 2022 redistricting case, which led to legislative and congressional maps that were similar to the ones drawn by Republicans a decade earlier.
The argument was that because the liberal majority found the “least changes” approach unlawful in the state maps case, the same rationale should apply to the congressional seats.
The court decided against hearing the congressional map challenge last March without weighing in on the arguments of the case.
While Wisconsin is well known as a “purple state” because statewide elections often result in near 50-50 splits, Republicans currently hold six of the state’s eight congressional seats.
GOP accuses Crawford of ‘selling’ congressional seats for addressing Democratic donor briefing was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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