Liberal candidate wins Wisconsin Supreme Court race in blow to Trump, Musk

Susan Crawford was projected to win an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, keeping the high court’s 4-3 liberal majority intact and delivering a blow to Elon Musk and President Trump, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Crawford, a Dane County circuit court judge, defeated conservative candidate Brad Schimel, a former GOP state attorney general, for the seat. Crawford replaces retiring liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley on the court.

The election offered the first big test for both parties since the November elections and came after record-breaking amounts of money poured into the race. In particular, the race was seen as a test of Musk's political sway, as his super PAC, America PAC, alone spent more than $12 million to support Schimel. He also traveled to Wisconsin the Sunday before the election, where he handed out $1 million checks to voters who had signed his petition against "activist judges."

Trump also waded into the race, repeatedly urging voters to go to the polls and support Schimel.

The race will also be a bitter disappointment for Wisconsin Republicans, who lost a chance to keep their conservative majority after Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated conservative candidate Dan Kelly in 2023.

This year's race, which shattered the 2023 race’s fundraising records by tens of millions of dollars, received outsized national attention not just because it determined the partisan tilt of the court, but also because it comes less than three months into Trump's second term as president, making it the first critical referendum on the president.

Democrats and the Crawford campaign sought to harness anger around Musk and the federal cuts made under his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The race also comes shortly after a scandal broke involving top Trump administration officials holding a discussion about attack plans on the Signal app, not realizing that a journalist had inadvertently been included.

The results will also have local consequences.

In recent years, Wisconsin’s high court has ruled over high-profile issues like the 2020 election results, the state’s legislative maps and use of ballot drop boxes. Among some of the closely watched cases the state Supreme Court will weigh in on next include a case over the state’s 1849 abortion law, which bans nearly all abortions in the state, and another case over Act 10, which curbs public workers’ collective bargaining rights.

The race is the latest example of Democrats’ special election streak since the November election. Earlier this year, the party scored surprise upsets in state Senate special elections in Iowa and Pennsylvania.

Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, celebrated Crawford’s win in a statement.

“Despite Republicans’ best efforts to buy this seat, Wisconsin voters showed up for their values and future,” she said. “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.”