MADISON, Wis. — While in public office Brad Schimel, now a circuit court judge, wrote that politicians using their office and powers to benefit their campaign contributors was, “the essence of representative government,” and Schimel has on multiple occasions embodied that statement himself while in office – like signing off on a plea from a child pornography defendant after taking campaign cash from their lawyer, using his office to support a lawsuit after meeting with a lobbyist for a group that supported his campaign, and bending the rules to issue an official office opinion praised by groups that spent millions of dollars supporting his election.
Now that he is actively raising campaign cash, knowing who’s writing checks to fund Judge Brad Schimel’s political ambitions is as important as it ever has been, according to A Better Wisconsin Together Deputy Director Mike Browne.
“Brad Schimel hasn’t just said there’s nothing wrong with elected officials taking action to benefit their campaign contributors, he’s done it himself while in public office,” commented Browne. “We can’t afford to not pay attention to who’s donating to his campaign and what’s on their agendas. Based on his past behavior, we know he is.”
Among the large donations from wealthy, right-wing donors and special interests on Schimel’s campaign finance reports since he announced a run for the state high court are:
- A state allowed maximum annual donation of $20,000 in 2024 from Dick Uihlein. Illinois-based billionaire Uihlein is a huge funder of the MAGA disinformation distribution machine, underwrote groups involved in the violent and deadly January 6 insurrection, and has spent lavishly to support PACs like Fair Courts America and the Restoration PAC to elect extremist politicians and judges in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Uihlien’s wife Elizabeth also gave a maximum $20,000 contribution to Schimel in 2024.
- $20,000 each from Diane Hendricks and her daughter Kim Hendricks to Schimel in 2024. Diane, the billionaire owner of ABC Supply, is a noted proponent of diverting state funding from public schools to less accountable private voucher and charter schools. The Hendricks family are massive political donors to the Republican Party and right-wing candidates. Diane Hendricks was also famously caught on tape urging her political protege former Gov. Scott Walker to take a “divide and conquer” strategy to advance their shared anti-worker agenda.
- Longstanding Republican donor Michael White and member of the board of right-wing legal outfit the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has donated a total of $20,000 to date. White infamously sent an email to his company’s employees in advance of the 2012 election threatening their pensions and healthcare if President Obama were re-elected.
- Among others chipping in were Augustin Ramirez, a private voucher school owner and gun industry business owner John Fleckenstein with $10,000 each. The current head of the Wisconsin-based right-wing mega-funder Bradley Foundation, Rick Graber, has also donated $6,000 to Schimel to date.
Remind Judge Schimel he’s supposed to be serving us, not the special interests who fund his political ambitions. His office can be reached at (262) 548-7548.
