Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford won the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on Tuesday, defeating Republican-backed Brad Schimel and securing liberals a majority for at least three years. The victory ensures that liberals remain 4-3 in influence over the court, with no liberal justice being up for election again until April 2028.
Crawford, a Dane County judge who was well-known for her court battles upholding union rights and abortion access, battled a challenger who had the blessing of former President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. The high-spending contest, which also set a historic turnout record in voting, turned into a test of national political strength.
The race, the largest of the kind since November, was considered by many a test of Trump’s first few months in office again and Musk’s increasing political activism. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has engineered mass federal agency firings, so his direct participation in the election is that much more problematic. Musk headed to Wisconsin merely days before election day, providing voters with $1 million checks while drumming up support for Schimel.
Crawford openly accepted endorsements from Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups, airing campaign commercials that highlighted Schimel’s anti-abortion stance. At a debate, she attacked Schimel’s connection to Musk and the Republican establishment, even calling Musk by the name Elon Schimel.
At the same time, Schimel’s campaign characterized Crawford as soft on crime and too closely aligned with Democratic interests. His supporters warned that, as a senator, she would seek to redraw congressional district lines in a way that would hurt Republicans and seek repeal of a GOP-sponsored law restricting collective bargaining rights for most state workers.
Trump only gave his endorsement to Schimel 11 days prior to the election, and his son, Donald Trump Jr., stumped for Schimel in the last weeks of the campaign, declaring the race to be pivotal in defending the Republican agenda. Even though Schimel was strongly supported by Musk and Trump, he declared he would not be swayed by them as Musk and associated groups spent over $21 million on the campaign.
For the Democrats, Crawford was helped with campaign visits by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the vice presidential nominee last year, and cash from billionaire benefactors, George Soros and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
The race was the most costly judicial contest in U.S. history, with expenditures of nearly $99 million, shattering the previous record of $51 million in Wisconsin’s 2023 Supreme Court election. The huge publicity and money injected high early vote totals, surpassing the previous state Supreme Court race by more than 50%.
Crawford now steps into a 10-year term, replacing retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who has served on the bench for three decades. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on key issues, including abortion, voting laws, union rights, and congressional district boundaries—decisions that could significantly impact the state’s political landscape leading into future elections.
