Dems Win Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Despite Elon's Money Blitz
It's been a tough quarter for Elon Musk. Not only has Tesla stock dropped 35 percent since President Donald Trump's inauguration — hacking more than $100 billion off Musk's personal net worth — on Tuesday he saw another $20 million go down the drain as the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat he was looking to buy was retained by Democrats.
Democratic-endorsed Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge, defeated Republican Brad Schimel, assuring Democrats remain in control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for another three years. The liberal majority could continue to grow in the near future, as two conservative-held seats on the court will come up for grabs in the spring of 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Musk became invested in the race back in January, shortly after Tesla filed a lawsuit challenging a Wisconsin state law that bars vehicle manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. He eventually went all in, funneling millions of dollars to Schimel's campaign, the Wisconsin GOP and outside groups supporting the Republican candidate. (Democrats nicknamed Schimel 'Knee Pad Brad,' highlighting a clip of Schimel saying had to 'invest in knee pads, go around begging' for campaign donations.)
Days before the election, Musk even showed up in Green Bay, in a cheesehead hat, doling out oversized $1 million checks, as he put it onstage, 'to get attention.' Musk's appearance was picketed by hundreds of protesters, including a group hoisting a sign that read 'Wisconsin is not for sale.'
Trump was also doing what he could to get Schimel elected. 'Brad Schimel's Opponent, Susan Crawford, is a DISASTER!' he wrote on Monday, adding, falsely, that Crawford is 'so Far Left that even her own Party, the Radical Democrats, don't want ANYTHING to do with her.' Trump continued to urge his supporters to vote for Schimel on Tuesday, alleging on Truth Social that Crawford would be 'one of the most Liberal Judges ever elected.'
Democrats surpassed expectations in Wisconsin on Tuesday (as the vote was still being counted, Crawford was outperforming Kamala Harris' results by 17 points in Dane and Milwaukee counties), while Schimel appeared to be underperforming compared to Trump's 2024 results in areas like Kenosha, where Trump won by 6 points in November, and where Schimel trailed by 6 when outlets started calling the race on Tuesday night.
Democrats are predictably thrilled. 'Thanks to the voters, Wisconsin will have a justice who won't back down to special interests, billionaires, or partisan games when fundamental rights and freedoms are on the line,' DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'Democrats will fight back against Trump and Musk state by state at the ballot box and build power on the road to take back the House in 2026.'
Crawford's victory comes on the heels of a string of Democratic over-performances in the second Trump era. In a pair special elections in Florida also on Tuesday night, Democrats outperformed Harris-Walz by 16 points and 22 points, respectively. A few weeks ago, Democrat James Malone beat Republican Josh Parsons for a seat in the Pennsylvania state Senate, in a district Donald Trump won with 57 percent of the vote. In Virginia, a trio of candidates — JJ Singh, Kannan Srinivasan, and Jack Trammell — all beat Harris-Walz's numbers in their districts. In Minnesota, Doron Clark of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party won his race with 91 percent of the vote — outperforming Harris-Walz by 14 points. And in Iowa in January, Democrat Mike Zimmer flipped a +21 Trump district, a stunning 24 point improvement over Harris-Walz's performance.
Tuesday's contest came two years after Democrats wrested control of the court from the Republican majority in a contest that was, at the time, dubbed 'the most judicial expensive race in U.S. history,' with a combined $45 million spent by campaigns and committees. This year's race almost doubled that outlay, with the Brennan Center for Justice reporting at least $81 million was spent on the contest.
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