A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
An election in Wisconsin tomorrow is the most expensive judicial race in American history. As Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya van Wagtendonk reports, the contest is being fueled by out-of-state billionaires.
ANYA VAN WAGTENDONK, BYLINE: By the time I finish reading this sentence, the total tally has probably changed, so I'll just say a lot of money is funneling into Wisconsin - like, close to a hundred million dollars a lot. Donors are backing either Dane County Judge Susan Crawford...
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SUSAN CRAWFORD: I'm Susan Crawford, and looking out for people is why I became a prosecutor and a judge.
VAN WAGTENDONK: ...Or Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel.
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BRAD SCHIMEL: I'm Brad Schimel, and justice is my life's work.
VAN WAGTENDONK: She's liberal. He's conservative. Whoever wins will determine the ideological majority on the nonpartisan Wisconsin Supreme Court, with issues like abortion, voting and labor law at stake. They're both getting plenty of small donations. But in Wisconsin, state parties can receive unlimited donations and spend that money with no caps. And in this race, a handful of out-of-state billionaires are really taking advantage of that.
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ELON MUSK: Thanks for coming. What do you think of my hat?
VAN WAGTENDONK: Top of that list is Elon Musk. That's him last night at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, wearing a Packers Cheesehead. And he spelled out what he says are the stakes when it comes to electing Schimel.
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MUSK: I feel like this is one of those things that may not seem that it's going to affect the entire destiny of humanity, but I think it will.
VAN WAGTENDONK: Musk personally gave millions to the Wisconsin Republican Party, and two of his spending groups have given at least $17 million supporting Schimel. They've produced ads arguing Schimel will support President Donald Trump's agenda. Susan Crawford - again, his opponent - has argued that means Schimel is bought and sold by Musk.
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CRAWFORD: He has basically taken over Brad Schimel's campaign.
VAN WAGTENDONK: As for her campaign, a big spender is the liberal megadonor George Soros. He's given $2 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party. So, of course, Schimel has fired back that Soros, a boogeyman of the right, is controlling Crawford.
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SCHIMEL: He's a dangerous person to have an endorsement from.
VAN WAGTENDONK: Crawford also has support from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. He's a hotels heir who self-financed his own campaigns. He's also given Wisconsin Democrats a million and a half dollars to support Crawford. Pritzker has supported Wisconsin politics before, like when he rallied Democrats at the state party convention in Milwaukee ahead of last year's presidential race.
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JB PRITZKER: We will be Midwest nice to you while we Midwest beat you.
VAN WAGTENDONK: Two other Illinois billionaires are looking north to Wisconsin. That's Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. If you've ever seen a Uline cardboard box or truck, that's their company. All told, they've spent about $8 million supporting Schimel.
JANINE GESKE: Besides being shocked at spending that much money on a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, I'm also very distressed.
VAN WAGTENDONK: That's the way former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske describes watching the fundraising hit the stratosphere. She sat on the bench in the mid-'90s and...
GESKE: My race, so long ago, was totaling $250,000.
VAN WAGTENDONK: And she says she's worried about what all this money means for judicial fairness.
GESKE: I think what's happening is just a nightmare and really going to the heart of our independence as that third branch of government.
VAN WAGTENDONK: Geske and other retired judges once asked the court to change its rules to require recusal in cases involving campaign donors. The court's then-conservative majority declined. They said it would chill free speech. So donors could easily see their interests go before the court. That means Crawford and Schimel have a line to walk, each arguing that the other is beholden to special interests while accepting big checks of their own.
For NPR News, I'm Anya van Wagtendonk. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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