Extreme Partisan Republican Brad Schimel Announces Bid for State Supreme Court

Schimel’s record includes a long history of misplaced priorities, extremism, and partisan activism

MADISON, Wis. — Former Attorney General Brad Schimel, who lost his re-election bid in 2018 before he was handed a Circuit Court judgeship by fellow 2018 election loser Scott Walker, announced today he will run for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2025.

“While the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a non-partisan body elected to hear cases where Wisconsinites’ rights and freedoms are at stake, it does not take much to see that Schimel’s record as a public official is riddled with right-wing partisan activism, misplaced priorities, and extremism on issues significant to Wisconsinites’ freedoms,” said Chris Walloch, executive director of A Better Wisconsin Together.

Schimel’s long documented history of partisanship and extremism includes:

  • Signing his support onto a white paper authored by Wisconsin Right to Life, an extremist anti-abortion group, that advocated for making abortion illegal in nearly every case;
  • Wasting more than $1 million in taxpayer money defending an extreme anti-abortion law;
  • Running for office as a Republican politician five times over the course of thirteen years, in 2006, 2008 and 2012 for Waukesha County district attorney and in 2014 and 2018 for Wisconsin attorney general;
  • Serving as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention, at which he was recorded cheering wildly for Donald Trump. Schimel later attended a Republican Attorney General Association event at Trump’s Mar-­a-­Lago Club;
  • After being appointed to a non-partisan judicial position, serving as a featured participant for an Ozaukee County Republican Party fundraiser alongside Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson;
  • And more.

“Even a cursory glance at Schimel’s record in public office reveals that he will put his own partisan agenda above a duty to serve the people of Wisconsin,” said Walloch. “He’s shown us throughout his career, including his short time as Attorney General before losing in 2018, that his extremism on the issues informs his actions.”

# # #

A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.