(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump is endorsing conservative Judge Brad Schimel in his race against liberal Judge Susan Crawford for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Calling Crawford a “radical left liberal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social she “has repeatedly given child molesters, rapists, women beaters and domestic abusers ‘light’ sentences.
“She is the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country – And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin. All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel.”
As the Center Square previously reported, Crawford’s record on the bench in Madison as a district court judge has come under fire from conservatives and tough-on-crime groups.
In 2019, prosecutors sought 50 years in prison for Antonio Gentry, who was accused of shooting a man in the head. Crawford sentenced Gentry to 30 years in prison with an opportunity to get out on parole early.
Critics also point to the cases of Kevin Welton, who was charged in 2018 with the felony sexual assault of a child. Welton could have been sentenced to up to 100 years in prison for the sexual assault of a two children under the age of 8. Crawford sentenced him to four years in prison. Welton is now out of prison.
And in 2022, prosecutors charged Curtis O’Brien with the repeated sexual assault of a 5-year-old child. Crawford allowed O’Brien out on a $500 signature bond. He was eventually sentenced to four years in prison, but was released in two.
During a recent debate, Crawford defended her sentencing decision in the child sexual assault case.
“I don’t regret that sentence because I followed the law in that case,” she said.
Crawford responded to Trump’s endorsement of her opponent, according to Channel 3000 News, saying “Brad Schimel is a corrupt politician who let 6,000 rape kits sit untested and gave a plea deal to a child predator whose attorney gave him $5,000. Schimel has spent his entire career on bent knee to right-wing special interests, we assumed he had this endorsement locked up months ago.”
Schimel served as Wisconsin attorney general from 2015 to 2019. He said he inherited the rape kit backlog when he was elected, and cleared every single kit that needed to be tested by the time his term was up.
Schimel and Crawford are running in one of the most expensive judicial races ever. The winner in the April 1 election will replace retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. With Bradley leaving the bench, the outcome of this election will determine whether the Supreme Court has a conservative or liberal 5-4 majority. A number of significant cases could be determined by the outcome.
• Benjamin Yount contributed to this report.
