Hijacking Campaign 2025 | Independent Expenditures | Issue Ads | Candidates | Campaign 2025
July 16, 2025
Based in Antigo, this is the Langlade County branch of the state Republican party. This is the first time it has reported making independent expenditures in a state election, but as with the other two GOP parties reporting such spending in the spring elections, here and here, these may be misreported in-kind contributions to the candidates in question.
About two months after the spring election in early June, the party first reported that it had made independent expenditures for newspaper advertising in the officially nonpartisan Wisconsin State Supreme Court and State Superintendent of Public races.
In the court race, it supported Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge and former Republican Wisconsin State Attorney General Brad Schimel against Democratically backed Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford for an open seat on the high court. Going into the election, liberals enjoyed a 4-3 majority on the court that they had won in the 2023 election. A Schimel victory would have given control back to conservatives. Crawford won the contest.
In the other race, the party supported challenger Brittany Kinser, an educational consultant and former charter school lobbyist, against first-term incumbent Jill Underly. Underly, like Crawford, received substantial backing from the state Democratic party. Underly won that election too.