By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Turnout during the first week of early voting ahead of Wisconsin’s pivotal state Supreme Court race is far exceeding levels from another high-stakes election just two years ago, the latest sign of the intense interest in a contest that has obliterated spending records and drawn attention from President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser, Elon Musk.

As of Tuesday, with just a week to go until the final day of voting, nearly 48% more early ballots have been cast compared with the same point two years ago, according to data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission. More than 345,000 voters had returned ballots, either by mail or in person, compared with about 233,000 at this point two years ago during another race for a Supreme Court seat.

The election will determine whether the court will remain under 4-3 liberal control or flip to a conservative majority. One of the current liberal justices is retiring.

This year’s race has morphed into a proxy battle over the nation’s politics, with Trump and Musk getting behind Brad Schimel, the Republican-backed candidate in a race that is officially nonpartisan.

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford participate in a debate Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

“All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late last week.

Total spending on the race has reached more than $73 million, including more than $14 million by groups funded by Musk, according to a tally Monday by the Brennan Center for Justice. That’s the most on record for any U.S. judicial race, breaking the $56 million spent on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court contest in 2023, when majority control also was on the line.

All that spending and attention has helped fuel early voting, said Kevin Kennedy, Wisconsin’s former top elections official who now works as a consultant. He spoke while taking a break from working at a Madison poll site where people could vote early.

“There’s just a lot of money being invested,” Kennedy said. “Everything seems to be focused on, ‘Let’s get out the vote.’”

After previously being critical of early voting, Trump and the Republican Party are urging their supporters to cast their ballots before the final day of voting on April 1. Early voting ends Sunday. The strategy, which they deployed with great success in last year’s presidential race, appears to be contributing to large turnout increases in more conservative counties across Wisconsin.

Schimel’s opponent, Democratic-backed Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, has raised more than $25 million for the race to date, including $5.5 million from the state Democratic Party since early February. Her supporters include billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

A sign along a street in Milwaukee, Wis., Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, had raised more than $12 million, which includes more than $6 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party since early February.

But outside groups have more than made up the difference in what the candidates have raised.

The roughly $28 million spent by the candidates as of Monday was far exceeded by the roughly $45 million spent so far by outside groups, according to the Brennan Center calculation. Schimel and his allies, which include groups backed by Musk, have spent about $41 million, while Crawford and her supporters have spent about $32 million.

Voters in Wisconsin do not register by political party, so it’s impossible to know how many of the ballots already submitted came from Republicans or Democrats. But the data shows that the largest increases are coming from both Democratic- and Republican-heavy counties.

Milwaukee County, the state’s largest county and the one that is home to the most Democrats, led all counties in ballots returned with 54,750. That is more than 46% ahead of this point two years ago. Liberal Dane County, the state’s second largest county and home to the state capital of Madison and the University of Wisconsin, has also seen a 46% increase.

But Republican parts of the state also have seen big jumps.

Voting was up in the three suburban Milwaukee counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, which are commonly referred to as the WOW counties. Ballot returns were up more than 62% in Waukesha and 51% in Ozaukee. In Washington, the most heavily Republican of the three counties, early voting was more than double two years ago.

In Brown County, the state’s fourth most populous one, which is reliably Republican, early turnout was up more than 34%.

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While the early voting is high for a spring election, it’s far from what battleground Wisconsin saw at this point before the presidential race. A week before the Nov. 5 election, nearly 1 million voters had cast their ballots, almost four times as many as in this race to date.

The race comes as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to rule on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting rules.

On Monday night, Democratic U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told supporters that electing Crawford was important so she and other liberal justices can order a redraw of congressional boundary lines. Even though Wisconsin is a swing state, Republican-drawn lines have allowed the party to hold six of its eight congressional seats.

“As soon as possible, we need to be able to revisit that and have fair lines,” Jeffries said in a live discussion on the social media platform X. “The only way for that to be even a significant possibility is if you have an enlightened Supreme Court.”

Schimel has accused Crawford of promising to Democrats that she will redraw the lines. Crawford has denied that.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Frank Bisignano, a self-professed “DOGE person,” faces questions about whether the Trump administration plans to privatize Social Security as he appears before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday for his hearing to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

Bisignano, a Wall Street veteran and one-time defender of corporate policies to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, will be called to account for the upheaval at the agency in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s election.

The agency has taken center stage in the debate over the usefulness of Department of Government Efficiency cuts to taxpayer services and their effect on Social Security, the social welfare program long regarded as the third rail of national politics — touch it and you get shocked.

The hearing follows a series of announcements of mass federal layoffs, cuts to programs, and a planned cut to nationwide Social Security phone services.

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon sent a letter to Bisignano this week asking him to commit to protecting all Social Security components from privatization.

Bisignano has served as chairman of Fiserv, a payments and financial services tech firm since 2020. He told CNBC in February that he is “fundamentally a DOGE person” but “the objective isn’t to touch benefits.”

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Roughly 72.5 million people receive Social Security benefits, which include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability payments.

The chaos at the Social Security Administration began shortly after acting commissioner Michelle King stepped down in February DOGE, run by Trump adviser Elon Musk, sought access to Social Security recipient information.

Then later that month, the agency announced plans to cut 7,000 people from the agency payroll through layoffs, employee reassignments and an offer of voluntary separation agreements, as part of an intensified effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce through DOGE.

Most recently, the agency’s acting commissioner, DOGE supporter Leland Dudek, announced a plan to require in-person identity checks for millions of new and existing recipients while simultaneously closing government offices. That sparked a furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients who are worried that the government is placing unnecessary barriers in front of an already vulnerable population.

The Social Security program faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress. The May 2024 trustees’ report states that Social Security’s trust funds will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. Then, Social Security would only be able to pay 83% of benefits, absent changes.

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By MATT OTT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence fell for the fourth straight month as Americans’ anxiety about their financial futures declined to a 12-year low amid rising concern over tariffs and inflation.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 7.2 points in March to 92.9. Analysts were expecting a decline to a reading of 94.5, according to a survey by FactSet.

The Conference Board’s report Tuesday said that the measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell 9.6 points to 65.2.

It is the lowest reading in 12 years and well below the threshold of 80, which the Conference Board says can signal a potential recession in the near future. However, the proportion of consumers anticipating a recession in the next year held steady at a nine-month high, the board reported.

“Consumers’ optimism about future income — which had held up quite strongly in the past few months — largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers’ assessments of their personal situations,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at The Conference Board.

The board’s survey showed that purchasing plans for both homes and cars declined. However, in somewhat of a surprise given respondents’ anxiety about the future, intentions to buy big-ticket items like appliances increased. The board said that could reflect a desire to buy before Trump’s tariffs kick in, leading to price increases.

While inflation has retreated from the highs during the post-pandemic rebound, it has remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Those still-elevated prices, combined with President Donald Trump’s announced tariffs on many imported goods, has Americans feeling sour about spending as concerns about the economy mount.

Consumers appeared increasingly confident heading into the end of 2024 and spent generously during the holiday season. However, U.S. retail sales dropped sharply in January, with cold weather taking some of the blame.

Earlier this month, the government reported that Americans modestly stepped up their spending in February after a sharp pullback the previous month.

The board reported Tuesday that consumers’ view of current conditions decreased 3.6 points to 134.5.

The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months.

Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and is closely watched by economists for signs about how the American consumer is feeling.