Cnn
–
The candidate supported by Democrats, Susan Crawford, will win the Supreme Wisconsin Court race, CNN Project, now the liberal majority in the court in a key state of the battlefield of less than three months after the second term of President Donald Trump.
Crawford, a liberal judge of the circuit court in the County of Dane, Batra the conservative candidate Brad Schimel, a county judge of Waukesha who received the support of Trump in the last section of the campaign. The race was officially non -partisan, but Crawford’s victory will be considered a bright point for the Democrats in Wisconsin and nationally while the voters presented the president’s favorite candidate a defeat in the first major political test of the second Trump.
Crawford and its democratic allies also worked to transform the election into A referendum on Trump Ally Elon Muskwhich paid millions of His personal fortune in the race. He quickly became the most expensive judicial competition in American history.
During a victory rally in Madison on Tuesday evening, Crawford thanked the supporters, saying that their voices helped send a message to the country.
“Today, Wisconsinites have rejected an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair equations and our Supreme Court. And the Wisconsinites have risen and said aloud that justice has no price-our courts are not for sale,” she said.
Crawford did not mention Musk by name, but she referred to the defeat of her major expenses in the competition.
“As a little girl in Chippewa Falls, I never thought I would adopt the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin, and we won!” she said to noisy cheers.
Crawford said Schimel called her to concede. “I want to thank him. He was very kind and I wish him well as well as his family, ”she added.
Musk and groups affiliated to him spent more than $ 19 million in the state, including financing operations in the field and television advertisements. Crawford linked the technological billionaire directly to Schimel in his appearances, sometimes referring to Musk to “my opponent”. Democratic groups have disseminated television advertisements connecting the CEO of Tesla to Schimel.
In total, candidates and external groups spent more than $ 90 million – spending records that break only two years ago, when a liberal judge captured an open seat and reversed the court.
Schimel and the Republicans hoped to rely on the network of voters who supported Trump in the November presidential election when he narrowly won the state of the battlefield. Schimel hugged Trump throughout the campaign and even appeared in a live conversation with Musk on his social media site X.
But the Democrats bet that the seizure of this alignment would bear fruit with the voters at a time when the two men have undertaken a controversial remodeling of the federal government. Questions such as rights to abortion and redistigate Congress cards have also become flash points in the campaign.
Crawford, who represented Planned Parenthood as a private lawyer, supports abortion rights.
In a state with a divided government – Governor Tony Evers is a democrat, and the Republicans control the state legislature – the Supreme Court has become the final arbiter on the policies that affect the life of the Wiscons, especially if a 19th century law which prohibited most of the abortions could be applied today.
And in a state that helps to determine who wins the presidency, the High Court would have the last word to resolve electoral disputes.
Since the Liberals won a majority of 4-3 two years ago, the court won major victories to the Democrats – overthrowing a decision of the High Court in 2022 which had imposed an almost total ban on the voting boxes and overthrew the legislative cards of the State drawn by the Republicans.
The court could review the Congress cards that helped the GOP to maintain an unbalanced advantage of six seats in eight American houses, despite the thin -winged paper margins for the Republicans and Democrats in state -of -scale races.
Crawford will be a 10 -year term.
This story has been updated with additional details.