How media chose sides in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election: Bias Breakdown

[Karah Rucker]

WELCOME TO BIAS BREAKDOWN.

I’M YOUR HOST – KARAH RUCKER.

FOR MONTHS – THE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTION HAS BEEN IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT.

DEPENDING ON WHAT TIME YOU’RE WATCHING THIS EPISODE –

A NEW JUSTICE COULD ALREADY BE ELECTED –

DETERMINING THE IDEOLOGICAL BALANCE OF THE STATE’S HIGHEST COURT.

THE MEDIA’S COVERAGE OF THIS HIGH STAKE’S RACE –

HAS CENTERED ON TWO NARRATIVES – 

THE MONEY – PARTICULARLY – ELON MUSK’S FINANCIAL BACKING OF THE CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE –

AND – THE POWER –  WITH THE WINNING JUSTICE LIKELY CASTING THE DECIDING VOTE ON REDISTRICTING – POSSIBLY IMPACTING REPUBLICANS’ CONTROL OF THE HOUSE.

HOW NEWS OUTLETS AMPLIFIED THE ANGLES THAT BEST FIT THEIR POLITICAL LEANINGS.

THAT’S THE FOCUS OF TODAY’S BIAS BREAKDOWN. 

FIRST – LET’S TALK ABOUT **WHY THIS RACE GARNERED SO MUCH NATIONAL ATTENTION – AND WAS SEEN AS CRITICAL FOR BOTH REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS – NOT JUST IN WISCONSIN – BUT NATIONWIDE.

WHILE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT SEATS ARE “NONPARTISAN” –

THE TWO CANDIDATES UP FOR THE OPEN SPOT HAD VERY DIFFERENT JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHIES –

LEADING REPUBLICANS TO BACK JUDGE BRAD SCHIMEL – ENDORSED BY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP –

AND DEMOCRATS BACKING JUDGE SUSAN CRAWFORD – ENDORSED BY FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.

RETIRING JUSTICE – ANN WALSH BRADLEY – WAS ONE OF THE LIBERALS IN THE COURT’S 4-3 LIBERAL MAJORITY.

THE WINNER OF TUESDAY’S ELECTION – WILL DECIDE THE MAJORITY AND EARN A 10-YEAR TERM IN THE COURT.

THE BENCH IS EXPECTED TO TAKE UP HIGH-PROFILE CASES – FROM CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING TO ABORTION – 

ELEVATING THIS STATE ELECTION TO NATIONAL PROMINENCE – 

WITH THE INTENSE STAKES DRAWING MORE FUNDING FROM OUTSIDE THE STATE THAN WITHIN. 

HERE ARE SOME FUNDRAISING FACTS UPFRONT BEFORE CONTRASTING THE MEDIA’S COVERAGE.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER – THERE ARE A FEW DONATION POTS IN PLAY.

ONE – DONATIONS MADE DIRECTLY TO THE CANDIDATES THEMSELVES.

WHICH STATE LAW CAPS AT 20 THOUSAND PER DONOR.

BUT THERE IS  NO CAP ON HOW MUCH A PERSON CAN DONATE TO THE STATE’S POLITICAL PARTIES –

AND THERE’S NO CAP ON HOW MUCH POLITICAL PARTIES CAN GIVE TO CANDIDATES.

OUTSIDE SUPER PACS ALSO HAVE FREE REIN ON HOW THEY CHOOSE TO INDEPENDENTLY SPEND THEIR MONEY.

LET’S START WITH THE CANDIDATES – WHICH INCLUDES DIRECT DONATIONS **AND FUNDRAISING FROM THE STATE’S POLITICAL PARTIES.

OVERRALL – CRAWFORD RAISED MORE THAN 22 MILLION DOLLARS –

ALMOST DOUBLE SCHIMEL’S TAKE – AT 11.6 MILLION DOLLARS.

THE STATE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY GAVE MORE THAN 10 MILLION TO CRAWFORD – –THE STATE’S REPUBLICAN PARTY GAVE MORE THAN 9 MILLION TO SCHIMEL.

77 PERCENT OF CRAWFORD’S DONORS CAME FROM OUTSIDE WISCONSIN –

COMPARED WITH 15 PERCENT OF SCHIMEL’S OUTSIDE SUPPORT.

CRAWFORD HAD 10 TIMES AS MANY DONORS AS SCHIMEL –

ACCORDING TO THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINNEL.

THESE NUMBERS INCLUDE A 3 MILLION DOLLAR DONATION FROM ELON MUSK TO THE STATE’S GOP. AND A 2 MILLION DOLLAR DONATION FROM LIBERAL FINANCIER GEORGE SOROS AS WELL AS A 1.5 MILLION DOLLAR DONATION FROM ILLINOIS’ BILLIONAIRE GOVERNOR JB PRITZKER TO THE STATE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

WHEN YOU INCLUDE MONEY SPENT FROM “SUPER PACS” – 

THE MARGINS TIGHTEN – AND ELON MUSK’S INVOLVEMENT EXPANDS.

OUTSIDE SUPER PACS ACCOUNT FOR 44 PERCENT OF TOTAL AD SPENDING.

WITH SUPER PACS ON THE RIGHT ACCOUNTING FOR 57% – MORE THAN **HALF – OF MONEY SPENT ON SCHIMEL.

COMPARED TO 31% OF THE MONEY SPENT ON CRAWFORD.

THE “AMERICA PAC” AND “BUILDING AMERICA’S FUTURE” LINKED TO MUSK – REPORTEDLY SPENT OVER 18 MILLION DOLLARS ON THE RACE ACCORDING TO “AD IMPACT AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS.”

AFTER INCLUDING THE CANDIDATES’ DONATIONS, THE PARTIES DONATIONS, AND SUPER PAC MONEY –

MORE THAN 90 MILLION DOLLARS HAS BEEN SPENT ON THE RACE AS OF MONDAY –

ALREADY MAKING IT THE MOST EXPENSIVE JUDICIAL CONTEST IN U.S. HISTORY.

IT’S NOT JUST THE AMOUNT OF MONEY MUSK DONATED TO SCHIMEL’S RACE –

BUT ALSO THE MONEY HE **GIFTED TO WISCONSIN VOTERS –

PROMPTING LEFT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS TO ACCUSE MUSK OF “TRYING TO BUY”  A STATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SEAT.

MUSK’S “AMERICA PAC” GIFTED 100 DOLLARS TO WISCONSIN REGISTERED VOTERS WHO SIGNED A PETITION AGAINST “ACTIVIST JUDGES”.

AND MUSK GAVE TWO ONE MILLION DOLLAR CHECKS OUT SUNDAY TO VOTERS WHO SIGNED THE PETITION.

IT LED TO A LEGAL BATTLE – WITH THE STATE’S ATTORNEY GENERAL CLAIMING MUSK’S GIVEAWAY VIOLATED STATE ELECTION LAWS – BUT MUSK’S ATTORNEYS MAINTAINED THE PAYMENTS WERE ABOUT THE PETITION – NOT TO ADVOCATE FOR A SPECIFIC CANDIDATE.

THE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT UNANIMOUSLY DECIDED NOT TO TAKE UP THE CASE AFTER TWO LOWER COURTS ALSO REJECTED THE LAWSUIT.

MONEY DOMINATED THE NEWS CYCLE—WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON ELON MUSK’S FINANCIAL INVOLVEMENT. 

LEFT-LEANING MEDIA OUTLETS SPOTLIGHTED HIS CONTRIBUTIONS, FRAMING THEM AS AN ATTEMPT TO ‘BUY THE ELECTION.’ 

THE HEADLINES WE SHOWED YOU WITH THIS NARRATIVE CAME EXCLUSIVELY FROM LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS – AND WERE ALSO HEARD ON LEFT NETWORKS.

“Elon musk in green bay wisconsin, under fire, accused of trying to buy an election.”  <1:47-1:55> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtOPCtIfyW0 “What we have now really is this question of whether the world’s richest man can buy our democracy, can smash the laws, and be completely unaccountable.”

“If they can just go in and buy whatever court, whatever office they want, then we have an even higher level of crisis in our democracy in this country”

MEDIA ON THE RIGHT WEREN’T COMING TO THAT SAME CONCLUSION.

INSTEAD – SOME RIGHT-LEANING MEDIA– MADE A DIFFERENT ARGUMENT ENTIRELY –

NOT FOCUSED ON MUSK –

BUT FOCUSED ON A DEMOCRATIC DONOR CALL – FEATURING CRAWFORD – MAKING A PLEA FOR DONATIONS… AS THIS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SEAT COULD ULTIMATELY TIP THE BALANCE IN WHAT PARTY CONTROLS THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

THE EMAIL INVITE’S SUBJECT LINE TO THE DEMOCRATIC DONOR CALL READ – “Time-sensitive: chance to put two more house seats in play for 2026.” –

Inside the invitation – “winning this race could result in democrats being able to win two additional u.s. House seats, half the seats needed to win control of the house in 2026.”

ACCORDING TO A NEW YORK TIMES REPORT –

“Chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026,” read the subject line of an email invitation to a briefing last week for Democratic donors with Judge Crawford and Ben Wikler, the Wisconsin Democratic chairman.

Among those who organized the event were aides to Reid Hoffman, the billionaire Democratic donor and a robust supporter of Wisconsin Democrats.”

IT WAS THIS REPORT THAT CONSERVATIVE NETWORKS HIGHLIGHTED IN THEIR COVERAGE LEADING UP TO THE ELECTION.

“Elon has put money into that race, but susan crawford has also gotten ton of money from outside groups and has openly said she needs to win that seat because she wants to take away two congressional seats by redistricting from republicans. So she’s doing it for her own political ambitions, not to uphold the law, so you can argue elon has his interests but so do the democrats in wisconsin.

“The media coverage of this is oh, elon musk is pouring all this money and he is pouring a lot of money and not as much as george soros and the gang, the billionaires on the left. Because they want to take at least those two seats that can be gerrymandered with the supreme court’s help and flip the house. That is the ultimate goal and they hope ultimately impeach donald trump.”

EVEN RHETORIC FROM THE CANDIDATES THEMSELVES – ALIGNED WITH LEFT AND RIGHT MEDIA RESPECTIVELY.

IN AN INTERVIEW – CRAWFORD MADE THE CLAIM MUSK WAS TRYING TO BUY HIMSELF A JUSTICE – AND SCHIMEL – CLAIMING CRAWFORD APPEALED TO OUTSIDE DONORS IN THE NAME OF FLIPPING RED SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

“People are really motivated and want to make sure we protect the wisconsin supreme court. They don’t want to see some outsider, some billionaire, come in and try to buy a seat on the wisconsin supreme court which is what elon musk is trying to do.”

“My opponent got caught by the new york times of all places, with an email that went out to national billionaire donors that said come on to a zoom call and we’ll teach you how taking the wisconsin supreme court can change two republican congressional seats to democratic congressional seats.

 “4 out of 5 of her donors don’t even live in wisconsin.”

TWO DIFFERENT AREAS OF **EMPHASIS – IN TELLING THE SAME WISCONSIN ELECTION STORY.

RIGHT-LEANING MEDIA – LIKE THE NEW YORK POST – COVERED THE LAWSUIT AGAINST MUSK’S MILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAYS – THEY LARGELY DIDN’T QUESTION ANY ETHICAL ISSUES RAISED BY THE LEFT.

LEFT-LEANING MEDIA – WHILE THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTED ON THE DEMOCRATIC DONORS CALL –THEY LARGELY DIDN’T QUESTION ANY ETHICAL ISSUES RAISED BY THE RIGHT.

THIS CAN BE A FORM OF MEDIA BIAS IDENTIFIED BY MEDIA WATCHDOG GROUP ALLSIDES.

THE GROUP IDENTIFIES “BIAS BY OMISSION” AS A TYPE OF MEDIA BIAS…

“For “Bias by omission is a type of media bias in which media outlets choose not to cover certain stories, omit information that would support an alternative viewpoint, or omit voices and perspectives on the other side. This type of bias can occur on a small scale, such as a reporter failing to include other perspectives in coverage of an issue. It can also occur on a larger scale, such as news outlets neglecting to cover certain stories that don’t support their political ideology.”

TO ROUND OUT THIS STORY –

THERE IS ANOTHER HIGH-PROFILE CASE – ASIDE FROM REDISTRICTING – THE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT IS EXPECTED TO RULE ON THIS YEAR.

THE NEW JUSTICE COULD POTENTIALLY DECIDE ON AN ABORTION CASE.

LEFT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS ARE SPOTLIGHTING ABORTION IN WISCONSIN RACE HEADLINES –

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – “ABORTION ONCE MORE PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN A STATE POLITICAL FIGHT.”

THE GUARDIAN – “A Wisconsin state supreme court race will test whether abortion can still tip an election.”

AND POLITICO –”In Wisconsin, an abortion-rights test.”

AT HAND – IS AN ABORTION BAN FROM 1849 – WHICH CRIMINALIZED “INTENTIONALLY DESTROYING THE LIFE OF AN UNBORN CHILD” WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SAVING THE MOTHER’S LIFE.

AND WHILE THIS IS A CASE THE STATE SUPREME COURT IS WEIGHING WHETHER TO REVIVE – POLITICO POINTS OUT – THIS CASE COULD BE SETTLED **BEFORE THE NEWLY ELECTED JUSTICE IS SWORN IN.

POLITICO WROTE – “The winner could provide the swing vote in a case the high court is expected to hear this year on whether the Wisconsin Constitution guarantees the right to abortion. The state supreme court is mulling whether to revive an abortion ban from 1849, though that will likely be decided before the new justice is seated.”

IF FOR SOME REASON THE CASE ISN’T DECIDED  BEFORE THE NEW JUSTICE IS ELECTED – CRAWFORD PREVIOUSLY SAID SHE BELIEVES WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICES ABOUT THEIR BODIES AND HEALTH CARE.”

WHILE SCHIMEL PREVIOUSLY SAID THE ISSUE SHOULD BE LEFT TO VOTERS – BUT ALSO IDENTIFIES AS PRO-LIFE.

RIGHT-LEANING NETWORKS HAVEN’T HIGHLIGHTED THE ISSUE OF ABORTION IN THE STATE LIKE HOW LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS HAVE.

THIS MATCHES POLITICAL IDEOLOGY –

FOR EXAMPLE IN NOVEMBER’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION –

67 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS FELT ABORTION WAS A MAJOR ISSUE COMPARED TO 35 PERCENT OF REPUBLICANS ACCORDING TO PEW RESEARCH.

IN SUMMARY –

BOTH POLITICAL SIDES VIEW THIS WISCONSIN RACE AS A CRUCIAL ONE.

THAT’S WHY ITS THE MOST COSTLY JUDICIAL RACE IN **HISTORY –

WITH MONEY HEAVILY POURING IN FOR BOTH CANDIDATES.

ELON MUSK – **IS THE BIGGEST DONOR – SUPPORTING THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE –

AND LEFT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS HAVE BEEN FOCUSED IN ON **HIS CONTRIBUTIONS AND INVOLVEMENT IN THE RACE.

RIGHT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS –  ARE MORE FOCUSED ON A DEMOCRATIC EFFORT TO FLIP TWO HOUSE SEATS BLUE ONCE THE SUPREME COURT RULES ON REDISTRICTING IN THE STATE.

LEFT AND RIGHT MEDIA – ARE TELLING THE STORY OF THE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RACE DIFFERENTLY –

LEANING INTO THEIR PREFERRED NARRATIVE – MATCHING THE RHETORIC FROM THE LEFT AND RIGHT’S PREFERRED CANDIDATE –

RATHER THAN GIVING YOU THE FACTS FAIRLY WITHOUT A POLITICAL AGENDA BEHIND IT –

IN A HIGH STAKES RACE THAT COULD SEE NATIONAL IMPACT.

AND THAT’S YOUR BIAS BREAKDOWN.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR WATCHING THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

IF YOU’VE MISSED ANY EPISODES REMEMBER THEY’RE EASY TO FIND –

ALL YOU’VE GOTTA DO IS SEARCH “BIAS BREAKDOWN” ON WHATEVER PLATFORM YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE CONSISTENTLY WATCHING AND LEAVING COMMENTS FOR US!

I SAW SOMEONE LAST WEEK LEAVE A COMMENT ON YOUTUBE ASKING HOW TO SUPPORT BIAS BREAKDOWN –

HONESTLY, IF YOU JUST SUBSCRIBE AND MAYBE SHARE THE PODCAST WITH A FRIEND – WE’D APPRECIATE THAT.

AND THE WAY SOME OF THESE ALGORITHMS WORK, IF YOU “LIKE” THE VIDEO, SHARE OR COMMENT –

THEN THAT TYPICALLY BUMPS UP THE VIDEO SO OTHERS CAN FIND US TOO.

THERE WAS ANOTHER COMMENT ON LAST WEEK’S EPISODE ABOUT A SOUND BYTE THAT WE COULD’VE EXTENDED BUT I CUT IT SHORT.

AND THAT PERSON WAS RIGHT – WHEN LISTENING TO IT BACK – IT WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER IF I HAD PLAYED A LARGER SECTION OF THAT INTERVIEW FOR FULLER CONTEXT.

I SAY THAT JUST TO SAY – I REALLY AM LOOKING AND LISTENING TO YOUR FEEDBACK – SO DON’T FEEL LIKE IT FALLS ON DEAF EARS.

I JUST APPRECIATE YOU LISTENING TO THESE STORIES THAT ARE SOMETIMES 10 PLUS MINUTES.

SO THANK YOU.

AND THANKS TO IAN KENNEDY OUR VIDEO EDITOR.

AND ALI CALDWELL ON THIS WEEK’S GRAPHICS.

HAVE A GREAT DAY – AND I’LL SEE YA NEXT TIME.