Wisconsin voters on Tuesday elected Susan Crawford to the state Supreme Court, maintaining the court’s 4-3 liberal majority in a setback for President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who had backed her conservative rival.
According to New York University’s Brennan Center, the election was considered as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency, and the campaign easily became the most expensive judicial contest in US history with more than $90 million spent by the candidates, the state parties and outside groups.
Crawford, a county judge, defeated conservative Brad Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general and also a county judge, who conceded in a phone call to Crawford and in a speech before his supporters.
Crawford, with 75% of the vote counted, held a lead of 55% to 45%, a difference of some 178,000 votes.
With the balance of the court at stake, Musk and political groups tied to him spent more than $21 million to support Schimel.
Crawford was said to have framed the race as a contest between her and the out-of-state billionaire.
“I’ve got to tell you, as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice and Wisconsin. And we won,” Crawford said.
