by Megan O’Matz

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When Susan Crawford, Wisconsin’s newly elected Supreme Court justice, took the stage in Madison on Tuesday night to claim victory, four women flanked her, beaming, hands on one another’s shoulders. One had her fist raised in triumph.

The supporters were four justices now serving on the state’s Supreme Court, representing the court’s liberal faction. Pictures and video of the moment captured the overt display of partisanship in a contest for the state’s highest court.

Missing from the scene: the court’s three conservative leaning justices. About 60 miles east, one of them, Rebecca Bradley, joined the election event of the opposing candidate, former Republican Attorney Gen. Brad Schimel, where she expressed disappointment that he lost and blamed liberals for politicizing the court.

“I also think the way Judge Crawford ran her race was disgusting,” Bradley said, according to the news site The Bulwark. Bradley accused the Democratic Party of “buying another justice.”

Bradley added: “It needs to stop. Otherwise, there is no point in having a court. This is what the Legislature is supposed to do, to make political decisions based on policy. That’s not what a court’s supposed to do, and unfortunately, we’re going to see this happening for at least the next several years.”

Officially the Supreme Court race was nonpartisan. Crawford and Schimel did not run with an R or D beside their name. Wisconsin judges take an oath to be faithful to the state constitution, to administer justice without favoritism and to act impartially.

But the spectacularly high-profile Wisconsin contest was undeniably political. The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice estimated the spending topped $100 million — making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Large sums came from political action committees and shadowy third-party groups that funneled money into TV ads, mailers, canvassing and other assistance.

President Donald Trump, taking a keen interest in the race, endorsed Schimel and held a “tele-rally” for him. His close adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, funneled roughly $25 million into the race, via his super PAC, an associated dark-money entity and direct party donations. The outlays included offers to pay Schimel volunteers $50 for every photo of a voter outside a polling station, as well as million-dollar checks as prizes to three supporters. At one point in the race, Schimel posed for photos in front of a giant inflatable likeness of Trump.

On the other side, the Democratic Party endorsed Crawford and steered over $11 million to her campaign from contributions made to the party by donors that included billionaires such as George Soros and Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. On social media in the waning days of the campaign, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton urged support for Crawford. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler attended Crawford’s victory party in Madison.

Wisconsin’s raw partisan display reflects a growing focus on the importance of these courts in shaping policy — especially on hot-button issues like abortion, redistricting and voting rights. At........

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