Billionaire and Trump leave defeated from their first political test. And in the case of the billionaire: it is a little less billionaire
Democrats won the majority of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin
by Arlettte seasons e Fredreka SchoutenCNN
The candidate supported by Democrats Susan Crawford won the race to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, according to CNN projections, keeping the majority liberal in the court of a key to battlefield, less than three months after President Donald Trump’s second term.
Crawford, a liberal judge of the Dane County Circuit Court, beat conservative candidate Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge who received Trump’s support in the campaign’s final stretch. The race was officially apartidal, but Crawford’s victory is seen as a positive point for democrats in Wisconsin and across the country, as voters gave the president’s favorite candidate a defeat in the first major political test of the second era Trump.
Crawford and his democratic allies also worked to turn the election into a referendum to Trump’s ally, Elon Musk, who invested millions of his personal fortune in the race. The most expensive judicial contest in US history has quickly became.
In a Victory rally in Madison on Tuesday night, Crawford thanked the supporters, saying that these votes helped send a message to the country.
“Today, Wisconsin citizens have removed an attack unprecedented to our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court. And the Wisconsinians have risen and said aloud that justice is priceless – our courts are not for sale,” he said.
Crawford did not mention Musk by name but referred to the fact that he defeated all the money the billionaire spent in this race.
“When I was a girl in Chippewa Falls, I never thought I would be facing the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin – and we won!” She said, under strong applause.
Crawford said Schimel called him to grant the victory. “I want to thank you. He was very kind and I wish you happiness and the family,” he added.
Musk and affiliated groups spent more than 17.6 million euros in the state, including financing field operations and television ads. Crawford directly associated Musk with Schimel, sometimes referring to the multimillionaire as “my opponent.” Democratic groups published television announcements that linked Tesla’s CEO to Schimel.
In total, candidates and external groups spent more than 83 million euros – beating the spending records established just two years ago, when a liberal judge won a place and reversed the court’s control.
Schimel and the Republicans hoped to attract the network of voters who supported Trump in the November presidential elections, when the current president narrowly won this state that is a battlefield. Schimel hugged Trump throughout the campaign and even participated in a live conversation with Musk at X.
Democrats bet on exploring with voters the relationship between Trump and Musk, at a time when the two men undertook a controversial reformulation of the federal government. Issues such as the right to abortion also arose as points of inflammation in the campaign.
Crawford supports the right to abortion.
In a state with a divided government -Governor Tony Evers is Democrat and Republicans control the state legislature -the Supreme Court has become the final referee of policies that affect the lives of Wisconsin citizens, including the question of whether a nineteenth -century law that has banned most abortions can currently be applied.
And in a state that helps determine who wins the presidency, the Supreme Court has the final word in the resolution of electoral disputes.
Since the liberals had a majority of 4-3, two years ago, the court has achieved great victories for the Democrats – reversing a 2022 decision of the 2022 that had imposed an almost total ban on the polling ballot and nullifying the state legislative maps elaborated by the Republicans.
The court can review Congress maps, which have helped the Republican party maintain a overwhelming advantage of six of the eight US representatives, despite very small victory margins for Republicans and Democrats in state elections.
Crawford faces a 10 -year term.
