A Dairyland Sentinel Perspectives Column by Brian Fraley
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has intensified his criticism of President Donald Trump this month, spotlighting perceived federal policy threats just as the pivotal state Supreme Court race unfolds.
I believe the ramped-up criticism and the upcoming election are connected in more ways than one.
In a March 3 release titled Gov. Evers Urges Lawmakers to Prepare for Reckless Threats by Trump, Congressional Republicans to Cut Medicaid, Eliminate Dept. of Education, Evers warned, “Threats to cut Medicaid, eliminate the Department of Education, and end other vital federal programs would blow a hole in our state budget and leave Wisconsin children, families, farmers, veterans, and seniors out in the cold.”
Another release on March 5, Gov. Evers Highlights Importance of Protecting Wisconsin’s Ag Industry from Trump’s Tariffs, Trade Wars, stated, “President Trump’s plans for massive new tariffs could spark trade wars that would be devastating for Wisconsin’s $116 billion agriculture industry.”
These are just two in a series of ramped up critiques of the Trump Administration by the Wisconsin governor.
Evers’ increasingly partisan statements are not meant to bolster his own image as some sort of effective, well-liked fighter. Ironically, they coincide with a Marquette University Law School poll released Tuesday showing his favorability dipping to 44%, down from 48% in the prior survey late last year.
These attacks rev up the Democratic voting base as candidates work to get out the vote in the spring election’s final weeks.
Evers’ focus on Trump comes as liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford campaigns against conservative Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat in the April 1 election.
That’s smart politics, leveraging the bully pulpit. But it’s not just about one race here in Wisconsin next month.
A Crawford victory could help Democrats flip the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Evers’ anti-Trump push is also directed at a national Democratic donor base that wants to maintain control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for reasons of national partisan significance.
The April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election has gained national attention, with Democratic donors like George Soros, J.B. Pritzker, and Reid Hoffman, alongside the grassroots group Swing Left, framing it as a chance to redraw congressional maps and flip two Republican-held U.S. House seats—potentially erasing the GOP’s slim House majority.
How the Congressional Maps Come Into Play
Crawford’s participation in a January 13 donor briefing organized by Focus for Democracy, which promoted her race as a “chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026,” has fueled controversy. Republicans accuse her of bias after the event—reportedly coordinated by Hoffman and also featuring Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler—suggested her victory could lead to Democrat-friendly redistricting for the 2026 midterms and impact the 2028 presidential election.
Crawford’s campaign insists she only briefly shared her background and has not commented on redistricting. Then again, Crawford is also running ads portraying herself as a tough-on-crime judge, so forgive me if I judge her campaign’s denial as dubious.
Republicans currently hold a 6-2 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation, despite close statewide races, because of voter preference shifts in northern Wisconsin, failed Democratic campaigns in Western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, and the fact that Wisconsin Democratic voters are clustered predominantly in the two largest cities in the state, Madison and Milwaukee.
Democrats have coveted seats held by Reps. Bryan Steil (1st District) and Derrick Van Orden (3rd District), which could flip under new maps drawn by the Court.
Second Chance
In 2023, the Supreme Court struck down Republican-drawn state legislative maps, ruling them unconstitutional for favoring one party. New maps, enacted in 2024, reduced the GOP’s edge, with the fall’s election adding 14 new Democratic state legislative seats.
However, the court declined a March 2024 Democratic challenge to redraw congressional maps, leaving them intact for the 2024 elections, despite similar partisan critiques.
A Crawford win could reopen that door. If she loses, the Court could still rush through new maps, but the timeline makes it much more difficult. (Even though the election is three and a half weeks away, the winner is not sworn in until August.)
To be sure, Evers isn’t the only Democratic governor bemoaning Trump these days. But his criticism, along with the April 1 election and the new Wisconsin congressional map that it could lead to, raises the stakes here.
There is a lot more going on than a simple statewide contest between a conservative and a liberal in Wisconsin.
There is a lot more at stake than the ideological direction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the next few years.
The nation should pay attention–and we should expect more agitating, anti-Trump press releases from Governor Evers.
