The Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court docket defeated a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday, cementing a liberal majority for no less than three extra years.
Susan Crawford, a Dane County choose who led authorized fights to guard union energy and abortion rights and to oppose voter ID, defeated Republican-backed Brad Schimel in a race that broke data for spending, was on tempo to be the highest-turnout Wisconsin Supreme Court docket election ever and have become a proxy combat for the nation’s political battles.
Trump, Musk and different Republicans lined up behind Schimel, a former state legal professional basic. Democrats together with former President Barack Obama and billionaire megadonor George Soros backed Crawford.
The primary main election within the nation since November was seen as a litmus take a look at of how voters really feel about Trump’s first months again in workplace and the position performed by Musk, whose Division of Authorities Effectivity has torn via federal companies and laid off 1000’s of staff. Musk traveled to Wisconsin on Sunday to make a pitch for Schimel and personally hand out to $1 million checks to voters.
Crawford embraced the backing of Deliberate Parenthood and different abortion rights advocates, operating advertisements that highlighted Schimel’s opposition to the process. She additionally attacked Schimel for his ties to Musk and Republicans, referring to Musk as “Elon Schimel” throughout a debate.
Schimel’s marketing campaign tried to painting Crawford as weak on crime and a puppet of Democrats who, if elected, would push to redraw congressional district boundary strains to harm Republicans and repeal a GOP-backed state legislation that took collective bargaining rights away from most public staff.
Crawford’s win retains the court docket below a 4-3 liberal majority, because it has been since 2023. A liberal justice just isn’t up for election once more till April 2028, guaranteeing liberals will both keep or enhance their maintain on the court docket till then.
The court docket probably shall be deciding instances on abortion, public sector unions, voting guidelines and congressional district boundaries. Who controls the court docket additionally might issue into the way it would possibly rule on any future voting problem within the perennial presidential battleground state, which raised the stakes of the race for nationwide Republicans and Democrats.
Musk and teams he funded poured greater than $21 million into the competition. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, campaigned for Schimel within the closing weeks and mentioned electing him was important to defending the Republican agenda. Trump endorsed Schimel simply 11 days earlier than the election.
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Schimel, who leaned into his Trump endorsement within the closing days of the race, mentioned he wouldn’t be beholden to the president or Musk regardless of the large spending on the race by teams that Musk helps.
Crawford benefitted from marketing campaign stops by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential nominee final yr, and cash from billionaire megadonors together with Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
The competition was the costliest court docket race on report within the U.S., with spending nearing $99 million, in response to a tally by the Brennan Heart for Justice. That broke the earlier report of $51 million report, for the state’s Supreme Court docket race in 2023.
The entire spending and a spotlight on the race led to excessive early voting turnout, with numbers greater than 50% increased than the state’s Supreme Court docket race two years in the past.
Crawford was elected to a 10-year time period changing liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley who’s retiring after 30 years on the bench.
