Supreme court sees record breaking spending, turnout

Wisconsin’s Spring 2025 general election made history, primarily due to record breaking money campaign spending, but also due to voter turnout.

Across the state, many precincts saw higher than average turnout for a spring election. In Milwaukee, some polls reported shortages of ballots. Unofficial numbers from Douglas County show a double digit increase in turnout compared to the last statewide juridical election in 2023.

“People cared about this,” said Superior Jim Paine, who admitted surprise at high turnout statewide, “I think it was seen as a bellwether on the current presidential administration, but also it was a statement about a lot of the change and progress that’s been happening in Wisconsin just the last few years.”

The “bellwether” aspect of this race is in part what attracted so much money to the race, with the Judicial candidates spending a combined total of over $100 million dollars. Much of that came from out of state mega-donors.

“It’s really not appropriate for out of state millionaires and billionaires to try and tell us how we should be governed, how our laws should be enforced. That’s up for the people of Wisconsin to decide. That’s what this election was really about. It’s what the last Supreme Court election was really about, the ability of people in Wisconsin to govern their own state.” The mayor said, though he went on to explain that giant financial contributions aren’t everything in an election.

“Money is not the only way to buy an election. You can buy it with hard work. You can buy it with passion. You can buy it with good arguments. You can buy it with organizing. You can you can buy it by committing to your community and turning your neighbors out to vote.

“So the people of Wisconsin “bought” their Supreme Court yesterday, but they did it the way that the founders of the state and the founders of this country always intended by using our voices and using our votes.”

While the 2025 Supreme Court race might be over, it won’t be long before another starts. Wisconsin voters will see a Supreme Court election on their ballots every single year through the end of the decade.