President Donald Trump and Elon Musk claimed victory on a new Voter ID law in Wisconsin, despite Republican Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel suffering a humiliating loss to Democrat Susan Crawford in one of the most closely-watched state judicial races in years and also the most expensive of all time.
According to reports, Tesla CEO and DOGE advocate Musk, along with his organizations, invested a whopping $20 million to support Schimel, 60, who served as Wisconsin's attorney general from 2015 to 2019, in an effort to shift the court's balance but all the efforts went into vain. Meanwhile, Crawford's campaign received major funding from billionaires George Soros and J.B. Pritzker.
Big Embarrassment for Trump and Musk
Democrat-supported Susan Crawford's victory over Republican-backed Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel in the officially nonpartisan race secures a 4-3 liberal majority on Wisconsin's seven-member Supreme Court for at least the next three years.
During this period, Democrats are expected to push for redrawing the state's congressional district boundaries to weaken Republican influence and challenge a law passed under former GOP Governor Scott Walker that removed collective bargaining rights for most state government employees.
"Growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I would be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin," Crawford said, referring to Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who traveled to the state this past weekend to stump for Schimel.
"And we won."
Schimel, Wisconsin's former attorney general under Governor Walker, told his supporters that he had conceded to Crawford. When a woman in the crowd started chanting "Cheater! Cheater!" he quickly interrupted her.
"No, no," he said. "You've got to accept the results."
Although limited polling suggested a close contest between the candidates, Crawford consistently maintained a slight lead. However, the final results showed a decisive win for Crawford, who was ahead of Schimel by nine percentage points with 89% of the expected votes counted.
For over a decade, conservatives had controlled the Wisconsin Supreme Court until the 2023 election of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz, a result widely viewed as a response to the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the nationwide right to abortion.
Sweet Taste of Success
Crawford openly welcomed support from Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights organizations, running campaign ads that emphasized Schimel's opposition to the procedure. She also slammed Schimel's connections to Musk and national Republicans, even referring to him as "Elon Schimel" during a debate.
Schimel, in turn, accused Crawford of being soft on crime and a pawn of national Democratic leaders.
Early voting saw a surge, exceeding 2023 levels by more than 50%. Meanwhile, seven polling locations in heavily Democratic Milwaukee either ran out of ballots or came close due to what Paulina Gutierrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Elections Commission, described as "historic turnout."
Crawford and Schimel ran to replace liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who chose not to run for a fourth 10-year term after first being elected to the court in 1995. With Tuesday's outcome, a liberal justice will not face election again until April 2028, ensuring the liberal majority remains intact—or potentially grows—until then.
While Wisconsin has a Democratic governor and attorney general, Republicans hold control of the state legislature. As a result, Tuesday's election was widely viewed as the deciding factor in the balance of power within the state government in Madison.
