Hijacking Campaign 2025 | Independent Expenditures | Issue Ads | Candidates | Campaign 2025
March 21, 2025
CatholicVote.org Candidate Fund is a federally registered super PAC based in Madison run by the socially conservative CatholicVote.org. According to its website, the organization’s mission is “to inspire every Catholic in America to live out the truths of [their] faith in public life.” The organization has no official ties to the Catholic Church. According to filings with the Federal Elections Commission, the committee made over $800,000 in independent expenditures favoring Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. This is the first time it has reported making independent expenditures in a Wisconsin state election.
Twelve days before the April 1st Wisconsin State Supreme Court election, the committee reported spending over $30,700 for online advertising and phone calls to support Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge for an open seat on the court. Although the seat is officially nonpartisan, Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general, is supported by the state Republican party, and his opponent, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, by the Democrats. Independent support for the candidates follows similar ideological lines, with groups such as the National Rifle Association and Pro-Life Wisconsin supporting Schimel and labor and liberal-leaning groups, such as Planned Parenthood, backing Crawford. Liberals won control of the court in the 2023 election; a Schimel victory would hand control back to conservatives.
This organization is an unregistered independent expenditure committee that is required to report any such spending done within 60 days of a primary or an election to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission per Chapter 11, Subchapter X of Wisconsin Statutes.