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Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel for a State Supreme Court seat in a race that shattered spending records and maintained a liberal majority on the court.
Reid J. Epstein has reported on Wisconsin politics on and off since 2002. He reported from Madison, Wis.
April 1, 2025, 10:17 p.m. ET
Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate for a pivotal seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, overcame $25 million in spending from Elon Musk to defeat her conservative opponent, The Associated Press reported, in a totemic contest that became a critical test of the nation’s prevailing political winds.
Judge Crawford, who serves in Dane County, handily defeated Judge Brad Schimel of Waukesha County, who ran on his loyalty to President Trump and was powered by record spending in the race from Mr. Musk, the president’s billionaire policy aide. The barrage of spending in the race may nearly double the previous record for a single judicial election. With roughly 60 percent of the vote counted on Tuesday evening, Judge Crawford held a double-digit lead.
For Democrats, the result is a jolt of momentum. They have been engaged in a coast-to-coast rhetorical rending of garments since Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January and embarked with Mr. Musk on an effort to drastically shrink federal agencies, set aside international alliances and alter the government’s relationships with the nation’s universities, minority groups, immigrants and corporate world.
Coming on the heels of Democratic triumphs in special elections for state legislative seats in Iowa and Pennsylvania and the defeat of four Republican-backed state referendums in Louisiana, Judge Crawford’s victory puts the party on its front foot for the first time since last November. Her win showed that, at least in one instance, Mr. Musk’s seemingly endless reserves of political cash had energized more Democrats than Republicans.
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“This election is going to determine all of our fundamental rights and freedoms,” Judge Crawford told supporters at her closing campaign rally Monday night in Madison. “At this point, I think it’s going to determine whether we have a Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
