Liberal candidate Susan Crawford defeated Elon Musk-backed conservative judge Brad Schimel to preserve a 4-3 liberal majority in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a contest that became the most expensive state Supreme Court race in the country’s history, with nearly $100 million spent on campaigning.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, flanked by Wisconsin Supreme Court justices, accepts ... More
The Associated Press called the Wisconsin Supreme Court race for Crawford at 10:16 p.m. ET.
With 71% of the votes tallied, Crawford was leading with 55.7% of the vote, compared to Schimel’s 44.3%.
With Crawford’s victory, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 4-3 liberal majority will remain in place until at least 2028.
According to the Associated Press, Schimel informed his supporters that he had conceded the race to Crawford and then shut down a chant of “cheater, cheater,” saying “No...You’ve got to accept the results.”
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The race to fill the vacant state Supreme Court seat emerged as a proxy fight between national Republicans and Democrats with Schimel’s candidacy being endorsed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk while Crawford received support from former President Barack Obama. Musk was heavily involved in campaigning for Schimel in the past few weeks and courted controversy by giving away two $1 million checks to voters at a rally on Sunday. At the rally, where Musk showed up in cheesehead hat, the billionaire told the crowd that, “Everybody’s got to mobilize everywhere like crazy for the next 48 hours...I think this will be important for the future of civilization. It’s that significant.”
Citing public filings, the Brennan Center for Justice reported that groups affiliated with musk spent at least $18.2 million to back the Schimel. This includes a $12.26 million contribution from Musk’s America PAC and $5.9 million from Building America's Future—which is also backed by Musk. The billionaire also donated $3 million to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which was also backing the conservative judge’s candidacy.
The total spending in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election topped $98.5 million, making it the most expensive state Supreme Court race in history according to ABC News. Around $53.3 million in total was spent on backing Schimel’s candidacy while nearly $45.2 million was spent support Crawford, according to the Brennan Center for Justice’s tally.
Wisconsin voters approved an amendment to the state’s constitution to make photo IDs a requirement for voting in the state, a result which was hailed by Musk and Trump. While he has yet to comment on Schimel’s loss, Musk reposted a tweet from America PAC about the ballot measure passing and wrote: “Yeah!” On his Truth Social platform, the president wrote: “VOTER I.D. JUST APPROVED IN WISCONSIN ELECTION. Democrats fought hard against this, presumably so they can CHEAT. This is a BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS, MAYBE THE BIGGEST WIN OF THE NIGHT.”
“I’ve got to tell you, as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin and we won,” Crawford said in her victory speech. “Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy,” she added later.
Democratic-backed Susan Crawford wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, cementing liberal majority (Associated Press)