George Soros, Steven Spielberg, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) are among the liberal megadonors who have opened up their wallets and donated generously to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin ahead of a high-stakes state Supreme Court race that will decide the political tilt of the bench.
The April 4 contest pits Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, against conservative former Justice Daniel Kelly, with control of the battleground state’s highest court up for grabs. The election has already shattered spending records for a state race and drawn millions of dollars in donations from across the country, with Protasiewicz getting help from multiple out-of-state billionaires.
ERIC HOLDER TO CAMPAIGN FOR JANET PROTASIEWICZ IN HIGH-STAKES WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RACE
Protasiewicz raised nearly $12.4 million to Kelly’s $2.2 million in the final campaign finance reporting between Feb. 7 and March 20, according to the latest disclosure forms filed this week.
In all, she has raised $14.5 million, with more than $8.8 million coming from the state Democratic Party.
Soros donated $1 million to the state Democratic Party on Feb. 22, Pritzker gave $1 million on March 14, while Tulsa philanthropists Stacy and Lynn Schusterman made four donations in March totaling $1 million. Hoffman donated $2 million, and Spielberg gave $125,000.
Kelly, who has raised more than $2.7 million, picked up nearly $500,000 from the Republican Party of Wisconsin and another $50,000 in donations from county GOP parties and the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee.
State Republicans have been quick to blast Protasiewicz for accepting such high sums from out-of-state moguls and claim her vote on hot-button subjects such as abortion and partisan gerrymandering has little to do with Wisconsin voters.
“George Soros and J.B. Pritzker’s million-dollar contributions underscore that Protasiewicz will simply be a progressive rubber stamp,” Rachel Reisner, spokeswoman for the state Republican Party, said. “They’ll drop whatever cash needed to buy her a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat because her pro-criminal record aligns with their agenda.”
Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business association, echoed the sentiment, adding Protasiewicz’s “soft-on-crime record is in lock-step with liberal DAs across the country.”
“It is no wonder that billionaires like George Soros and J.B. Pritzker are spending millions of dollars to put her on the state Supreme Court,” he told the Washington Examiner. “They see her candidacy as a way to subvert the rule of law in pursuit of their own political agenda.”
Protasiewicz has defended her donations, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the money helps her “communicate with people all over the state.”
“That gives me the ability to be on TV,” she said. “That gives me the ability to be on digital. That gives me the ability to travel all over the state and meet people.”
Kelly and Protasiewicz are running to replace Justice Patience Roggensack, a conservative whose term expires in July.
While the election is nonpartisan, the court has a 4-3 conservative majority. Tuesday’s election will likely determine the ideological makeup of the court and could even play a part in the 2024 presidential election.
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Officials in both parties believe that the outcome of the race could lead to big changes in how state Supreme Court races are run in the country’s 21 other states where justices are elected by voters.
