Brad Schimel aligns with Trump days after claiming impartiality

Days after telling voters that he would be apolitical and show no bias toward President Donald Trump in the courtroom, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel has spent the past few days tying himself to Trump and touting the president’s endorsement.

Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and a former Republican attorney general of Wisconsin, will face Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford in a general election on April 1, 2025. The winner will succeed retiring Justice Ann Bradley Walsh.

In a March 12 debate, Schimel was asked about flyers being distributed by conservative outside groups that said, “Conservative Brad Schimel will support President Trump’s agenda!” Schimel responded: “I have no control over what any outside group does. I will enforce the law. I will apply the law the way the Legislature has written it. If President Trump or anyone defies Wisconsin law and I end up with a case in front of me, I’ll hold them accountable as I would anybody. … In the courtroom, my personal views are irrelevant, and President Trump’s personal views are irreverent as well.” 

In the days since, Schimel has repeatedly telegraphed his loyalty to Trump.

On March 15, he participated in a “MEGA MAGA Rally” in Waukesha County and posed for pictures with a giant inflatable Trump adorned with a “Vote Brad Schimel Supreme Court” sign, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Daniel Bice.

Schimel campaigned with Donald Trump Jr. and pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk in Oconomowoc on March 17. The president’s son framed the race as vital for his father’s agenda, according to the Journal Sentinel: “You have to engage because it’s not just about now; it’s about that future. This presidency can be put to a halt with this vote.”

In social media posts on March 23, Schimel’s campaign shared President Trump’s endorsement, which includes baseless claims against Crawford and reads: “In the Great State of Wisconsin, a Radical Left Democrat, one who is insistent on bringing hardened CRIMINALS, that we removed to far away places, back into our Country, allowing men into women’s sports, Open Borders, and more, is running against a strong, Common Sense Republican, JUST CALL HIM BRAD, for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It’s a really big and important race, and could have much to do with the future of our Country. Get out and VOTE, NOW, for the Republican Candidate — BRAD!!!”

Crawford, however, has declined to take stances on political issues that might come before her in court, noting that it would be inappropriate for a judge to do so.

The Schimel campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Crawford campaign spokesperson Derrick Honeyman said in an email: “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 Trump’s endorsement locked up months ago. Schimel says different things to different audiences—in public he tries to say that he’ll be ‘objective and impartial,’ but then behind closed doors he says he wants to be a ‘support network’ for Trump and that the Wisconsin Supreme Court ‘screwed over’ Trump in 2020. Wisconsinites will reject Brad Schimel once again on April 1st.”

Trump is urging people to vote early for Schimel despite his longstanding opposition to voting by mail and early voting. “We should have one-day voting, we should have paper ballots, and we should have voter ID, and you’d have honest elections,” he told right-wing radio host Jeff Fredericks in July 2023. “When you see these votes when they take 42 days and they have ballots sitting all over the place, it’s a disgrace. We’re like a third-world country.”