Dem-backed candidate wins Wisconsin Supreme Court race in rebuke to Trump, Musk
Susan Crawford, a Democratically backed judge, beat back a well-funded Republican candidate to secure a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court on Tuesday night, according to AP.
Why it matters: Crawford's win is a rebuke to President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who poured millions into the race — and it will maintain the court's liberal tilt in a key swing state.
Tuesday's election fueled big donations from Musk and other billionaires, as Republicans aimed to overturn a liberal majority on the bench.
Wisconsin's top court is poised to carry broad sway on abortion rights, legislative redistricting and election laws.
The seven-member court now will have a liberal majority until at least 2028.
What they're saying: "Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy," said Crawford, a Dane County judge, in her victory speech in Madison, Wisc.
"Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale."
She echoed those words in a post to Musk's X.
Musk did not immediately comment on Crawford's win. But the SpaceX and Tesla CEO wrote on X in a repost on Wisconsin voters approving a constitutional amendment to add a voter ID requirement: "This was the most important thing."
The big picture: State Supreme Court races have historically been under-the-radar elections. But they've risen to national prominence, particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn the Constitutional right to abortion.
The Wisconsin contest morphed into a national proxy fight.
It's one of the first closely watched elections since the start of the second Trump administration and essentially served as a referendum on Trump.
Musk gave out $1 million checks Sunday to two people who cast ballots for the race after the state's Supreme Court declined to intervene in a legal challenge of the prize.
But Crawford beat Judge Brad Schimel, a circuit court judge and former Republican state attorney general.
By the numbers: A record $67 million had already been spent on the race as of last week, according to data from the tracking firm AdImpact.
That's up from the record-breaking $50 million that was spent on the state's Supreme Court race in 2023.
