By james art 
Advertising wars in High -bet competition For the control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, they are in full force as the candidates compete in the April 1 elections.
While the Wisconsin Supreme Court competitions are officially non -partisan, the competition has become increasingly polarized In recent years as Two major political parties They continue to support their preferred candidate. And with the elections of just over a month, both campaigns saw great donations poured into their campaigns, as the fight for the highest Wisconsin court was heated.
Supported by the Republican candidate Brad Shimel, a judge of the Wowsha County, will face the judge of Dane Susan Crawford District District, who seeks to maintain a narrow liberal majority of court.
Crowford raised $ 4.47 million from individual donors so far in 2025 compared to Shimel $ 2.7 millionThey showed recent campaign financing reports. The latest round of campaign financing reports showed that CROFORD obtained $ 2 million funding from Wisconsin’s Democratic Party while Shimel obtained $ 1.66 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party.
Crawford’s campaign claims to be undiscovered
In early February filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Committee (WEC) after its image was changed digitally in a A recent advertisement for a television attackS
Thehe Five -page complaint It is claimed that Shimel’s campaign does not reveal the use of artificial intelligence by potentially violating a Wisconsin’s new law Required to disclose the use of AI. Shimel’s team has said The photo was “edited” but did not use AI.
“Shimel will try to manipulate the images and facts, because it is desperate to hide his own failure,” Campaign spokesman Derrick Hroman told the Daily Cardinal in an email statement.
While the body of the complaint incorrect references The Statute, which is alleged that Shimel’s advertisement is breaking, the deputy coach of Crawford campaign Madi Moher told Cardinal in an email statement that WEC noticed the “clerical error”, but still considers the complaint “well to go forward “.
“We do not believe that this insignificant spiritual mistake will affect the result of the complaint, since the context and the essence of the submission become clear to the purpose and the Ethics Committee is still investigating,” Moher said.
Shimel’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but campaign spokesman Jacob Fisher rejected the complaint In a statement to Milwaukee Journal SentinelS
“This is not generated by an AI image,” Fisher said. “This is a desperate attempt to distract from Susan Crawford’s record for the release of pedophiles and violent criminals.”
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Thehe 30-second advertising Crawford is said to “did not bother to file a complaint on time” to keep an alleged rapist behind bars in 2001, with the alleged victim calling Crawford’s behavior in the case “sentence[ly] disgust[ing]S “
However, the mistake of the leading secretary of the State Ministry of Justice (DJ) Glenda Tapich, which led to the complaint to be filed a day delay, according to Sentinel. While Crawford at that time headed the DOJ Criminal Service, it is not responsible for determining the deadline in the case.
The State Court of Appeal ordered A new trial and overturned the defendant’s initial sentence and sentence after they have determined that the defendant’s lawyer was ineffective. The complainant of the case responded to the missed deadline with “complete disgust”, but did not direct his anger at Crawford in her statement, according to the magazine Sentinel.
A group supported by Elon Musk pours money in a race while donors, PACS spends large
The competition also attracted national attention to the construction of the future of America, a conservative non -profit purpose, bound by Elon Musk, spending about $ 1.6 million on advertisements on an attack on TV supporting Shimel’s campaign, according to The Associated PressS Ads started A broadcast on Thursday and will be held for two weeks in the five largest media markets in Wisconsin.
A week after the reservation of the seven -cylon television advertising purchase, an ad from Musk -backed non -profit, Crawford included a photo of a different Susan Crawford, a former professor at Harvard Legal School Susan P. CrawfordS The advertisement works for four days on Facebook and spending About $ 3,000.
Honeyman called advertising attacks “shameful” and “fraud from the beginning to the end” in a statement Monday.
“Shimel’s campaign has already been caught using AI to manipulate an image of Judge Crawford, and now Musk’s advertising uses a photo of a completely different person to enhance its false attacks… Wisconsinites should not trust any of the These guys, “Hudenman said.
Moreover, of Musk American Pac has launched a new $ 1 million paying campaign supporting Shimel as per WizolithicsS
On behalf of Crawford’s campaign, better Wisconsin together has spent $ 1 million for digital and television ads. In 2023, the group spent more than $ 6 million on behalf of liberal justice Janet Protasiewicz, which turned the court in a liberal majority For the first time in 15 years.
Shimel and groups that support him have an advantage of over $ 7 million in future advertising reservations, with about $ 7.7 million reservations supporting Shimel and about $ 572,000 reservations in support of Crawford, according to Adipta policyS
State news editor Anna Claibber contributed to the reporting of this article.
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