Liberal judge wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election despite Elon Musk's giveaways to voters

Democratic Party-backed judge Susan Crawford has been elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court after the most expensive judicial race in US history, one that saw tech billionaire and Trump administration figure Elon Musk offering voters seven-figure rewards for supporting Crawford's opponent.

Crawford defeated the Trump-endorsed candidate Brad Schimel in a major blow for Republicans, who had hoped to overturn the court’s liberal majority, which is now expected to last until at least 2028.

Musk and groups he backed spent more than $21 million (€19.45m) on the court race in what has become a crucial battleground state.

Celebrating her victory, Crawford, who will serve a 10-year term, alluded to Musk’s close involvement in the election.

“Growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I would be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin,” she said. “And we won.”

“Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court,” she added. “And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.”

Schimel called Crawford to concede once the vote projections showed that she had an unassailable lead. When the conservative judge told his supporters about the call, some in the crowd accused the other side of cheating.

“No,” Schimel said in response. “You've got to accept the results.”

A razor-thin majority

While Musk encouraged Wisconsin voters to see the election as a means of expressing support for US President Donald Trump’s agenda, the Democrats sought to portray it as a referendum on Musk himself.

Crawford’s win could have major implications for federal politics, as the state’s top court is likely to decide on congressional district boundaries, which have favoured Republicans in recent years.

Despite only narrowly defeating the Democrats in Wisconsin in November’s presidential election, the Republicans currently control six of the state’s eight US house seats. Trump allies worry this could change if the boundaries are redrawn, threatening the US president’s razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.

That is why Tuesday’s judicial election was so important to both political parties, with Trump himself calling the race there “a big deal”.

Voter turnout exceeded 52% of the voting age population, far above the previous record of almost 40% that was set in 2023.

Nearly $99 million (€91.7m) was spent on the contest, the most ever on a judicial election, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice.

While Musk campaigned for Schimel, the Republican-backed candidate, and gave away two $1m (€0.93) cheques to voters, the Democrats' former vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz travelled from neighbouring Minnesota to support Crawford’s election bid, which received financial backing from donors including the billionaire George Soros.

Musk was forced to delete certain posts on X that some said amounted to offering his millions in direct exchange for votes, something that would have violated Wisconsin state law.