Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Demonstrates the Need for Campaign Reform

I'm not going to discuss who I will or will not vote for during the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1. I will, however, discuss the election itself.

To give a brief recap. Wisconsin Supreme Court judges serve a 10-year term with no more than one judge running for office in any election. While judges are supposed to be non-partisan, the court currently has a liberal majority but with Justice Ann Walsh Bradley retiring, the outcome of this election can either keep it liberal with Susan Crawford winning or tilt it to the right if Brad Schimel wins. This in turn could determine the outcome of a number of state-related things ranging from abortion rights to election districts.

The main problem is it has stopped being just a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and has become a de facto measuring stick for President Donald Trump and his agenda, with nearly $100 million being spent, including a large portion from groups and individuals (like Elon Musk) from outside the state.

Personally, after the barrage of attack ads I've endured for the past several weeks, only months after enduring attack ads for the presidential race, I would love to have a third option other than the two that (at least according to the ads) "are too extreme for Wisconsin." Since that's not going to happen though here are my suggestions for fixing Wisconsin's problem going forward.

1. No outside spending. If a Wisconsin-based business, group or resident wants to donate to a campaign, they should. Any donation made by a business, group or individual should be considered illegal. It's our state, our future. Don't let people who aren't impacted influence it. Localized races (senator, congressman, state senator, state representative) should narrow this down even more, with candidates not being allowed to accept any donations from outside the district they represent.

2. Spending caps. The more people donate, the more influence they can have. Our politicians should be working for the people who elected them, not the people who wrote a gigantic check. This should also apply to indirect donations by PACs and publicity stunts like Elon Musk's $1 million petition giveaway. 

3. Non-partisan races need to remain non-partisan. Is Crawford really a non-partisan candidate if the Democratic party is endorsing her? How about Schimel with GOP backing and Donald Trump's endorsement? If we aren't going to at least pretend they aren't beholden to a political party, then why not just skip the election process and let the governor fill the vacancy via an appointment? The same should be true for all local elections as well, not just this one.

Will that happen? No. But one can only dream.