Dane County Judge Susan Crawford makes a bid to the Wisconsin Supreme Court

MADISON — Dane County District Judge Susan Crawford launched a campaign for the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday, seeking to have the court’s longest-serving justice vacated.

“I am running for Supreme Court Justice to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites under our Constitution. “These rights are threatened by any effort to politicize the court to advance a right-wing agenda — I believe Wisconsin deserves better,” Crawford said in a statement.

Crawford’s announcement comes two months after the Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley73, announced that she will leave court next year after serving 30 years.

When Judge Janet Protasiewicz was elected in 2023, Walsh Bradley said it would be the first time she would serve with a truly liberal majority. Now that he’s gone, the same partisan interests that pumped more than $50 million into Protasiewicz’s race are expected to trigger another costly battle for control of the court.

“As a former prosecutor and judge, I know that we need Supreme Court justices who understand what it takes to keep communities safe, who are impartial and fair, who will use common sense, and who will not politicize the Constitution to undermine our most basic rights ”Crawford said. “For the first time in years, a majority on the court is focused on finding the facts, upholding the law and protecting our constitutional rights. We cannot risk reversing this progress.”

Before being elected to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2018, Crawford was a partner at the Pines Bach law firm, where she worked on voting rights cases and represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in a case seeking to expand access to abortion. Previously, she worked as a prosecutor and legal counsel in the state government.

The state Supreme Court was asked to determine whether Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban could be enforced and whether the state constitution recognized a right to abortion.

In her statement, Crawford called former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel a “right-wing extremist.”

Schimel, who is currently a Waukesha County district judge, filed to run for the spring 2025 election in December.

Prior to serving as attorney general, Schimel earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a law degree from the UW School of Law. He joined the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office in 1990 and was elected Waukesha County District Attorney in 2006.

The race will once again determine the court’s ideological control.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dane County Judge Susan Crawford announces bid for Wisconsin Supreme Court