Wisconsin Supreme Court election results: Susan Crawford defeats Brad Schimel, defying Elon Musk

Liberals will maintain their narrow majority on the court after Crawford’s victory in the first battleground state election of Trump’s second term.

Susan Crawford has won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, NBC News projects, allowing liberals to maintain their narrow majority on the battleground state’s highest court — and defying Elon Musk after he spent millions of dollars to oppose her.

Crawford, a Dane County circuit judge who was backed by Democrats, secured a 10-year term on the court over Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County circuit judge and a former Republican attorney general. As the first major battleground state election of President Donald Trump’s second term, the technically nonpartisan contest drew national attention and became the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history. 

The outcome is a setback for Trump and his billionaire adviser, Musk. Trump endorsed Schimel in the final stretch of the race, while Musk injected himself into the center of it, spending huge sums of money, visiting Wisconsin days out from Election Day and frequently posting about the race on his X feed. In turn, Democrats and progressive groups made Musk their primary villain, attacking his influence on the race and his efforts to slash federal jobs and the government through the Department of Government Efficiency. 

"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 in Wisconsin," Crawford told supporters Tuesday night. "And we won."

In a brief concession speech, Schimel said, "I knew I had to put my all in," but that "you gotta accept the results."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-results-rcna198353

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