Since trump stepped into the electoral arena, campaign spending has been on steroids. The Wisconsin race for state Supreme Court is being called the “bonanza of billionaires.” The two candidates have raised $81 million (of traceable monies), breaking the record for the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. The race could top $100 million by the April 1 election date. The winner of this race will tip the ideological scales in this important state.

Elon Musk, the leading donor, has already dropped nearly $20 million. He’s also paying $100 a pop for signatures railing on ‘activist” judges. Musk definitely has some skin in the game beyond the MAGA agenda of keeping women pregnant and redistricting to expand GOP power. The co-president will need a favorable court when and if the Tesla case comes before Wisconsin’s High Court. Musk has sued the state over a decision preventing his company from opening dealerships in the state. 

We’ve seen the floodgates open wide in contentious races that favor the conservative agenda and the business interests of trump and his buddies. These corrupt, corporate bloodsuckers intend to capture the courts and the legislatures, thereby consolidating their power in the executive, legislative and judicial branches. All checks and balances would be neutralized, making it easier for the dictator and his oligarchy to do their damage.

You may recall that the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign shattered all records when it hit the billion-dollar mark. In fact, with another $15 billion going towards congressional races, 2024 was the most expensive federal election cycle ever. These folks drop a million bucks like we drop a $20 bill.

Buying and owning judicial seats predicts the legal outcomes of your issues and lawsuits. It’s all about protecting your assets. The 2010 Citizens United ruling was a sea change because it reversed a long-standing decision on campaign finance restrictions. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with big corporations and other special interest groups that they had the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. Then comes the double whammy: Super PACs which raise and spend massive amounts of money and the so-called dark money groups which don’t have to disclose their donors.

Where is this taking the country? And what course-correction is needed? This is a show-down between the oligarchs and the democrats (with a small ‘d’). We can win this because it’s numerically more of us than them, but we must be smart.

It seems like the really, super-rich are Republican supporters. Like Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon robber barons, who dumped $125 million in a super PAC supporting the convicted felon’s bid to the White House.

I don’t think Democrats can compete on this level. The social movement is certainly not in this high roller league. The Republicans are also more strategic than us in how they target specific states, ballot initiatives and candidates. 

The Democrats need to use their money not to buy elections but to move their base to a higher level of sophistication. Between AI trickery, social media distractions and outright lies, it is getting harder and harder to know what’s real about a candidate or ballot issue. It should be easier to show our people how important it is to be engaged in the electoral arena where decisions are made daily that affect our lives and our future.

The responsibility of movement organizers is to continually educate our people about the systems of oppression. They should know why they have to go to a pantry to supplement their family’s food, or why they have to work two scrappy jobs to make ends meet. If we aren’t schooling them on the features of racial and gendered capitalism and organizing them into resistance, they will become pawns or collateral damage.

Our troops must be battle-ready for the fights ahead—physically and mentally. Our battle cry has to be, if you can’t out spend ‘em, you got to out organize them. Getting our butts kicked in both those arenas is not an option.