Liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday, crushing Elon Musk’s attempt to buy yet another election.
Decision Desk HQ called the race after just 36 percent of the vote had been counted. Crawford held a decisive lead over conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel with 57.9 percent of the vote to his 42.1 percent.
Crawford’s win will ensure that the liberal majority on the court remains, as it tees up to weigh important questions about abortion, union power, election rules, and congressional maps.
Schimel has received more than $20 million from groups associated with Musk, including the more than $4.3 million Musk’s America PAC poured into the Schimel campaign’s canvassing efforts over the last eight weeks. Musk circulated a petition offering Wisconsin residents $100 to sign a statement condemning “activist judges” and giving them the chance to enter a $1 million sweepstakes.
At an America PAC event Sunday night in Green Bay, Musk gave away $1 million to a preselected spokesperson for the petition. Again, he offered people money to sign up to go door-to-door for him. “It’s … thumbs up and hold a picture of Judge Schimel. And that’s it, and you get $20,” Musk said, instructing them to take pictures as proof of their canvassing efforts.
As of Tuesday, more than $98 million had been spent in Wisconsin’s 2025 Supreme Court race, making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history, according to Axios.
The results of this election will affect several hot-button issues in the state, with potentially national repercussions. The court is expected to weigh a question about whether abortion is protected by the Wisconsin state Constitution, which could potentially upend a preceding decision about a 1849 law banning abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest. While Crawford made supporting abortion access a cornerstone of her campaign, Schimel has supported leaving the ban in place and asserted that there is no constitutional right to abortion.
Musk has expressed particular interest in the court’s July decision to legalize the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in elections. “Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk wrote on X in January. though there is no proven connection between the use of drop boxes and widespread voter fraud. The court’s decisions on election rules could have a significant impact on the midterm elections in 2026, and the 2028 presidential election.
The candidates also emphasized their role in approving proposed congressional maps. This is a crucial issue in Wisconsin, where Republicans have amassed six out of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, despite holding thin margins in state-wide races.
A liberal majority on the court could not only keep additional seats out of the hands of Republicans but also ensure that any legislative redistricting pitched by Democrats is readily approved.