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FACT BRIEF

Is advertising spending on liberal and conservative candidates in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election roughly equal?

By Tom Kertscher
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YES

Some $3.5 million has been spent supporting liberal candidates and $3.4 million supporting conservative candidates in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

That’s according to a report by media tracking firm AdImpact on Feb. 14, 2023, seven days before the primary election.

Four candidates are running in the primary. The two with the most votes will compete in the April 4 spring election.

Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow and Daniel Kelly, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, are the conservatives. Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell and Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz are the liberals.

Total spending — by the candidates and outside groups, for advertising, mailings and other purposes — surpassed $10 million in the 2020 Supreme Court election, according to the nonprofit Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks campaign spending.

That was a record for a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, exceeding $8.2 million spent in the 2019 race, the group said.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
AdImpact Politics Wisconsin's Supreme Court primary is 1 week away. We've seen $3.5M spent supporting liberal candidates and $3.4M supporting conservative candidates.If a liberal candidate wins this spring's general election, it would mark the court's first liberal majority since 2008.
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign 2020 Supreme Court Race Cost Record-Shattering $10M
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.