Susan Crawford won an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, securing the court’s liberal wing another two years in the majority and giving Democrats a major win just months after they were shut out of power in Washington.
Crawford, the liberal candidate in the race, was leading Brad Schimel, a fellow circuit court judge, 56 percent to 44 percent when The Associated Press called the race at 10:16 p.m. Eastern time.
The technically nonpartisan race for a 10-year term was the most expensive state judicial election in U.S. history, with millions of dollars from outside groups flooding into Wisconsin over the past few months. That included more than $18 million from political organizations linked to Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla who is leading President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency effort. Crawford also benefited from billionaire backing, with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and philanthropist George Soros both investing in support of the liberal candidate.
Democrats framed the election as a referendum on Musk, who featured heavily in pro-Crawford advertising. The state Democratic Party also held a series of town halls billed as “The People vs. Musk.” Crawford’s win will likely encourage Democrats to continue tying Republicans to Musk, whom polls have shown is less popular than the president as he seeks to cut jobs across the federal government.
Tuesday’s result is also welcome news for Democrats in a battleground state that Trump narrowly carried last year and suggests their voters are motivated to turn out as the party charts its next steps and its messaging while in the minority. Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general and longtime Trump supporter, earned an endorsement from the president last month and ran an ad touting it.
Crawford, who previously worked in the administration of Democratic former Gov. Jim Doyle, has been a Dane County circuit judge since 2018. While outside groups spent heavily to support Schimel, Crawford outspent her conservative opponent, $28 million to his $15 million through Tuesday, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
With Crawford’s victory, liberals on the Wisconsin high court will maintain the 4-3 majority they won two years ago with Janet Protasiewicz’s victory in a race that brought a new level of attention to state Supreme Court elections.
High-profile issues that could come before the court after this election include abortion rights, election law and union rights. Some have also speculated that the court may have to weigh in on the state’s congressional map — which Democrats have long criticized as favoring Republicans. The GOP currently holds six of the battleground state’s eight House seats.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to state legislatures, hailed Tuesday’s result, with the group’s president, Heather Williams, pointing to the “massive gains” Wisconsin Democrats made in the state Legislature last year after the high court’s liberal majority ordered new lines drawn.
“While Trump dismantles programs that taxpayers have earned, support, and are counting on, voters across the country are turning to state Democrats who are delivering on promises to lower costs and expand opportunities,” Williams said in a statement.
Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, which invested in the race, said Democrats were “overperforming, winning races, and building momentum.”
“We’re working hard to continue the trend in the Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey elections this year and then – with the people on our side – to take back the House in 2026,” he said in a statement.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court race was not the only statewide election on the ballot Tuesday. According to the AP, voters also approved a ballot measure that would add a voter identification requirement to the state constitution. And in the nonpartisan race for superintendent of public instruction, the AP projected Jill Underly, the Democratic-backed incumbent, to win reelection over challenger Brittany Kinser, who had the support of state Republicans.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Republicans received some good news of their own, with GOP candidates overcoming well-funded Democratic challengers in special elections for two vacant House seats, though both underperformed Trump’s 2024 margins in the districts.
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