The Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate was determined to debate in the middle of the race about Trump, Musk and big problems

The selection of the Wisconsin Supreme Court who carefully watched took the main stage when Brad Schimel supported by the Republic and Susan Crawford supported by Democrats would be debated on Wednesday, locked in a race for a chair that was technically non-partisan but had become the center of political storms.

That April 1 election Will determine which candidates, compete to replace the retired judge Ann Walsh Bradley, who will help determine the ideological tendencies of the court, which is currently leaning on liberals. The winner will join the bench when the court wrestles with heat problems such as abortion and redistricting access.

The race can also see the preview of how voters in the state of the battlefield felt a few months in the second term of office President Donald Trump.

“They use it as a test for President Trump’s popularity,” Janine Geske, a law professor at Marquette University and former Chief Justice Wisconsin, told ABC News. “He took Wisconsin in the election. And the question is, how is this election?”

The debate, organized by ABC Wisn-TV affiliation at Marquette University Law School, will air online and ABC News affiliates throughout Wisconsin at 7 pm the middle time on Wednesday.

Schimel, a candidate supported by a Republican party, is a former Attorney General for State who is a judge of the Regional Court in Waukesha County.

“I joined this competition 16 months before the election day because I recognized … you have to meet voters where they are,” Schimel tell wisn in February.

Crawford, supported by Democrats, is a judge of the Dane District Circuit Court and a former private lawyer. He at the points representing groups that are in harmony with Democrats such as Planned Parenthood, an organization that supports abortion access.

“I have spent a lot of time talking about my notes, my background as a prosecutor, as a lawyer representing people in court and defending their rights,” Crawford tell wisn in February.

More than $ 40 million has been spent on ordering advertising, both already aired or for future orders, in a race, According to the adipact ad tracking company. (Latest Opinion From the Law School of Marquette University shows a significant percentage of voters do not have an opinion about one of the candidates.)

This election is also seen as an indication of the influence of Elon Musk outside of Washington, where he has overseen the massive cuts to the Federal Government.

A conservative group affiliated with Musk, building the future of America, has spent more than $ 1.6 million for television advertisements in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, while one other Musk’s back, America PAC, has spent more than $ 6 million for outgoing-vot and digital media efforts, according to state campaign financial records. Expenditures are marked as opposed to Crawford or supporting Schimel.

Musk himself did not weigh directly about the race, but he was Posted on x last month Urge people to “Choose Republican for the Supreme Court of Wisconsin to prevent voting fraud!” Schimel already said He never spoke with Musk and told reporters in February, “I have no agenda that I work with anyone.”

Investment in these groups in the race has triggered pushbacks from Democrats.

“Wisconsin voters do not like Elon Musk who run our federal government and they also do not want him to buy elections at Wisconsin,” Democratic Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement on Monday.

Crawford’s own support is not free from supervision. Schimel and his supporters have appointed a large donor who seems to support Crawford, including liberal billionaire George Soros and Governor Illinois JB Pritzker, a Democrat. According to the financial records of the state campaign, those people donated to the Wisconsin Democratic PartyAnd the State Party has donated $ 2 million to Crawford.

Crawford said he did not make a promise to any donor and also emphasized his independence.

While this election is being monitored nationally as the first major race in 2025, experts and supporters of one candidate said it could also have a big impact on the state of Wisconsin, including problems such as redistricting, voting rights and abortion access.

For example, there is a Wisconsin Supreme Court case regarding if the Wisconsin Constitution protects the right to abortion, which may be considered by the court after justice is sitting.

Wisconsin has a law in 1849 on books that will effectively limit all abortions in the state, even though the law is not upheld.

If the court determines in a different case that the law is still valid and then that abortion access is not protected by the Wisconsin Constitution, it can mean that abortion is determined illegal in Wisconsin, Chad Oldfather, another law professor at Marquette University, told ABC News.

Journal of Milwaukee Sentinel reported that Schimel previously showed Support to leave the law 1849. recently, Schimel tell wisn That in the case of abortion access, “I appreciate life even when it was not planned, but I respect that the law put this in the hands of voters, and I will respect their will. … [My] Personal opinion? No, they have no role. “

Crawford, in the end, tell wisn He did not make an appointment to the advocacy group of abortion access but said he was proud of the job he did as a lawyer “fighting for the rights of the people,” including when representing the Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Women Speak Out Pac, a group affiliated with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a group that opposed abortion access, launched a canvas and volunteers to get votes for Schimel. SBA has made a six -digit investment in the race.

“Life literally on the track in this race, and they depend on Wisconsin voters who emerged for Brad Schimel. … If Schimel did not win, the court would be a left tool,” Kelsey Pritchard, Director of Political Communication for SBA, told ABC News in an interview.

The Emily List, a political group that supports female candidates who support abortion access, has contributed to Crawford and run a digital fundraising campaign to encourage others to donate.

“When Trump, Maga Republican, and unlected billionaires such as Elon Musk tried to tear the freedom that we had fought hard, chose judge Susan Crawford to the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin means protecting these rights that are being attacked,” President Emily Jessica Mackler was in a statement to an ABC News statement.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Soorin Kim and Will Stakinin contributed to this report.