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Background:
PRESS RELEASE | February 15, 2025
Swing Left Launches Campaign to Protect the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Critical April 1st Election with Significant National and Local Implications
National organization will mobilize its network of 1 million grassroots members to prevent a MAGA takeover of Wisconsin’s highest court, which could determine outcome of 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential elections, abortion access, workers’ rights, voting rights, and more.
FEBRUARY 15, 2025 – Swing Left—the national organization dedicated to organizing grassroots volunteers and donors to elect Democrats up and down the ballot—announced today its involvement in the first competitive state race this year to have real, national consequences: the April 1st Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
Swing Left will mobilize its national membership of 1 million individuals and more than 450 volunteer-led groups to prevent a radical conservative takeover in the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Swing Left will organize local, regional, and national volunteer efforts and drive grassroots donations to support liberal candidate Judge Susan Crawford, maintain the court’s 4-3 liberal majority, and protect the court from a right-wing takeover.
With Wisconsin being a key battleground state, the election has national implications for the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential elections, as tipping point races could be decided by the court. In 2020, the court rejected an attempt to overturn the election results by just one vote. And in 2024, it restored free and fair state legislative maps. The election could also impact abortion access, free and fair maps, voting rights, workers’ rights, and more.
“Less than a month into Trump’s second term, we’re all grappling with a mix of anger, dismay, disbelief, and anxiety. The reality is that the only way to truly stop Trump’s dangerous agenda is to secure power where it matters most—from states to Congress. Winning this race is a critical first step,” said Yasmin Radjy, Swing Left’s Executive Director. “Getting involved in competitive elections like the Wisconsin Supreme Court—an election that could shape not just the state’s future, but the trajectory of the entire country—is a powerful way to channel our anxiety into meaningful action.”
Radjy continued, “This race is about more than just Wisconsin. Control of the House in 2026 and the White House in 2028 could be determined by Wisconsin’s courts. From ending Wisconsin’s near-total criminal abortion ban, to ensuring free and fair maps, to protecting access to the ballot, the stakes are incredibly high.”
From now through Election Day on April 1, Swing Left volunteers will be knocking on doors, making phone calls, and writing letters to voters to ensure voters understand the stakes of this race and its state and national implications. Given that this race is expected to be extremely competitive and the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history, surpassing the 2023 race with over $45 million in spending, Swing Left is also focusing on grassroots fundraising to ensure the necessary resources are in place to maximize voter contact efforts on the ground.
Radjy added, “Democrats have shown we can win in Wisconsin—we flipped the court in 2023 and broke the GOP supermajority in 2024. But, this will still be a super close race. With millions pouring in from Republicans, we can’t afford to sit back. We need grassroots volunteers and donors to step up now to protect this progressive majority and prevent extremists from taking control.”
“We are in a totally new political paradigm. To win back power in the midterms and beyond, Democrats can’t simply rinse and repeat.,” Radjy concluded. “While we execute on the urgent work ahead, we also need to engage in some deep reflection and analysis of what structural and tactical changes are needed in how we engage in elections. At Swing Left, we’re doing our own analysis as well as organizing internally within the Democratic Party, pushing to improve its grassroots infrastructure, to ensure our impact is maximized in upcoming elections. In the meantime, we can’t wait around to get to work.”
“The courts seem to be one of the only guardrails to the Trump overreach,” said Dale Nook, volunteer leader of Swing Left Milwaukee. “Volunteers are stepping up again because we need to retain control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to protect a women’s right to choose, collective bargaining for state employees, and more.”
Swing Left will drive volunteers and donors to prevent a conservative takeover of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court by:
- Mobilizing volunteers to knock on doors and make calls to let Wisconsin voters know about this critical election and help them make a plan to vote
- Writing letters to voters via Swing Left’s affiliate organization Vote Forward, which is launching a letter writing campaign at the end of the month.
- Fundraising for Judge Susan Crawford’s campaign and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to support their organizing efforts for this race.
In 2023, Swing Left contacted nearly 500,000 voters to successfully flip control of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Volunteers made 172,000 calls, knocked on 4,600 doors, and wrote over 317,000 letters to Wisconsin voters through its affiliate organization, Vote Forward. Additionally, Swing Left donors contributed more than $127,000 to support the race.
This race is part of Swing Left’s 2025-2026 electoral strategy, which is focused on winning more Democratic power in the states this year and winning back the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections. Swing Left will share more on its initial 2026 plans in a few short weeks.
