Decision Desk HQ predicted that Susan Crawford would win an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, maintaining the liberal 4-3 majority on the court and dealing a blow to President Trump and Elon Musk. Brad Schimel, a conservative candidate and former GOP state attorney general, lost the seat to Crawford, a circuit court judge from Dane County.
Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal justice who is retiring, is replaced on the court by Crawford. After record sums of money were poured into the race, the election provided the first significant test for both parties since the November elections.
Given that Musk's super PAC, America PAC, alone spent over $12 million to promote Schimel, the contest was particularly viewed as a test of his political influence.
He also traveled to Wisconsin the Sunday before the election, where he handed out $1 million checks to voters who had signed his petition against “activist judges.”
Trump also waded into the race, repeatedly urging voters to go to the polls and support Schimel.
The race will also be a bitter disappointment for Wisconsin Republicans, who lost a chance to keep their conservative majority after Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated conservative candidate Dan Kelly in 2023.
This year’s race, which shattered the 2023 race’s fundraising records by tens of millions of dollars, received outsized national attention not just because it determined the partisan tilt of the court, but also because it comes less than three months into Trump’s second term as president, making it the first critical referendum on the president.
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