Democrats declared victory Tuesday in Wisconsin’s high-profile state Supreme Court race after Judge Susan Crawford defeated Judge Brad Schimel, defending the liberal majority on the bench and giving Democrats some bragging rights in a key swing state.
Judge Crawford, a Dane County judge backed by Democrats, will replace retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley on the court.
With 67% of the vote counted, Judge Crawford decisively led Judge Schimel, by a 55.6% to 44.4% margin.
The race between Judge Crawford and Judge Schimel of Waukesha County, also a conservative former state attorney general, was ostensibly about determining the court’s ideological bent, anticipating it could take up cases involving abortion, labor unions, and election laws.
However, the contest took on national significance, with both major parties viewing it as an early bellwether for the national political climate two months into President Trump’s second term and as an opportunity to seize the political narrative.
Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the “people of Wisconsin squarely rejected the influence of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and billionaire special interests.”
“And their message? Stay out of our elections and stay away from our courts – Wisconsin is not for sale,” Mr. Martin said.
Mr. Trump played his part, endorsing Judge Schimel and telling his supporters in a “tele-town hall” days before the race that it would have an “outsized impact on the future of the country” and that “the whole country is watching.”
Mr. Musk and his allied groups also loomed over the race.
The world’s richest man starred in a late-innings rally for Judge Schimel where he wore a foam “cheesehead” hat. Mr. Musk and allied groups also have put $20 million behind Judge Schimel, helping to make the race the most expensive judicial race in the nation’s history.
Mr. Musk warned that if Judge Crawford won, the state Supreme Court would likely change Wisconsin’s congressional maps to make it easier for Democrats to flip two seats.
Liberal groups said the result showed voters are fed up with the Trump administration and Mr. Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is charged with downsizing government.
“By defeating Elon Musk-backed Judge Brad Schimel, Wisconsin voters sent a clear message that they will not allow their elections to be manipulated by billionaires seeking to consolidate power and influence policy in their favor,” said Courtney Bourgoin of Evergreen Action Midwest, a group focused on combating climate change.
John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said the result “should send a crystal clear message to every elected official in the country that voters are rejecting the Donald Trump and Elon Musk agenda and the candidates Musk is trying to buy.”
Republicans did celebrate Wisconsin’s passage of a constitutional amendment to enshrine voter ID laws in the state constitution.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the campaigns and candidates spent over $80 million on the race.
So much money flooded the race that political observers said it made it difficult for Judge Crawford and Judge Schimmel to define themselves on their own terms.
Republicans had hoped to maintain the momentum from the November election, when Mr. Trump flipped the state back into the GOP column on his way to winning another four-year term.
The state Supreme Court is expected to take up cases involving the state’s 1849 abortion law, which bans nearly all abortions. It also is expected to hear another case over Act 10, a law that restricted collective bargaining rights for most public sector employees.
