CNN
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Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford will win Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, CNN projects, maintaining the liberal majority on the court in a key battleground state less than three months into President Donald Trump’s second term.
Crawford, a liberal circuit court judge in Dane County, will beat the conservative candidate Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge who received Trump’s backing in the final stretch of the campaign. The race was officially nonpartisan, but Crawford’s victory will be seen as a bright spot for Democrats in Wisconsin and nationwide as voters handed the president’s preferred candidate a defeat in the first major political test of the second Trump era.
Crawford and her Democratic allies also worked to turn the election into a referendum on Trump ally Elon Musk, who poured millions of his personal fortune into the race. It quickly became the most expensive judicial contest in US history.
At a victory rally in Madison Tuesday night, Crawford thanked supporters, saying their votes helped send a message to the country.
“Today, Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our supreme court. And Wisconsinites stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price – our courts are not for sale,” she said.
Crawford did not mention Musk by name, but she did reference defeating his big spending in the contest.
“As a little girl in Chippewa falls, I never thought I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin, and we won!” she said to loud cheers.
Crawford said Schimel called her to concede. “I want to thank him. He was very gracious, and I wish him and his family well,” she added.
Musk and groups affiliated with him spent more than $19 million in the state, including funding field operations and television advertisements. Crawford tied the tech billionaire directly to Schimel in her appearances, at times referencing Musk at “my opponent.” Democratic groups ran television ads linking the Tesla CEO to Schimel.
In all, the candidates and outside groups spent more than $90 million — shattering spending records set just two years ago, when a liberal judge captured an open seat and flipped control of the court.
Schimel and Republicans had hoped to draw on the network of voters who supported Trump in November’s presidential election, when he narrowly won the battleground state. Schimel hugged Trump closely throughout the campaign and even appeared in a live chat with Musk on his social media site X.
But Democrats bet that seizing on that alignment would pay off with voters at a time when the two men have undertaken a controversial reshaping of the federal government. Issues such as abortion rights and the redistricting of congressional maps also emerged as flashpoints in the campaign.
Crawford, who has represented Planned Parenthood as a private attorney, backs abortion rights.
In a state with divided government — Gov. Tony Evers is a Democrat, and Republicans control the state legislature — the Supreme Court has become the final arbiter on policies that affect Wisconsites’ lives, including whether a 19th-century law that banned most abortions could be enforced today.
And in a state that helps determine who wins the presidency, the high court would have the final word in resolving election disputes.
Since the liberals won a 4-3 majority two years ago, the court has delivered major victories to Democrats — reversing a 2022 high court ruling that had imposed a near-total ban on ballot drop boxes and striking down state legislative maps drawn by Republicans.
The court could revisit congressional maps that have helped the GOP hold a lopsided advantage of six out of eight US House seats, despite the paper-thin margins of victory for Republicans and Democrats in statewide races.
Crawford will serve a 10-year term.
This story has been updated with additional details.
