Wisconsin voters handed Elon Musk a resounding defeat Tuesday, coming out in record numbers to cast their ballots against his wishes and maintain the state’s 4-3 liberal Supreme Court majority.
Judge Susan Crawford was projected to win the state’s Supreme Court race Tuesday, despite the Tesla billionaire’s weeks of campaigning and the millions of dollars he and a number of affiliated groups spent to finance her opponent.
As of publication, the Dane County Circuit Court judge was leading her opponent, Donald Trump-endorsed Waukesha County Circuit Court judge Brad Schimel, by 10 percentage points, with just over 74 percent of the votes counted. For comparison, Trump won the state by roughly 1 percent in 2024.
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While accepting her win Tuesday, Crawford described the race as an “incredible, life-altering experience” and said she was “so grateful to have earned the trust of voters across this great state.”
“I’m here tonight because I’ve spent my life fighting to do what’s right. That’s why I got into this race,” Crawford continued. “I’ve got to tell you, as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin—and we won.”
The campaign quickly became the most expensive state Supreme Court race in history, with billionaire donors like Musk, George Soros, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker flooding both candidates with cash ahead of election day. In all, more than $100 million was spent on both candidates, more than doubling the previous record and rivaling some recent Senate races.
Musk has been particularly involved in the race, making a number of hyperbolic statements about its importance during media appearances and attending a series of events in the state in the contest’s waning days. He was at a last minute tele-town hall appearance Monday night, where he claimed that the race would lead to a cascading series of events that would likely decide “whether Republicans or Democrats control the House of Representatives.”
“This would be catastrophic and it would destroy the agenda for reform. It would make it almost impossible for the reforms that are underway to take place. I’m really asking from the bottom of my heart here, please go out and vote,” Musk said. “There are times in life when you have to to annoy your friends and family, and everyone you know... and ask them to vote, because I have a feeling that this could decide the future of civilization.”
The billionaire also gave away $1 million each to two voters Sunday at an event in Green Bay to promote Schimel. Several reports claimed that groups affiliated with the Tesla CEO have spent around $20 million in total on the race.
Musk even donned a cheesehead hat, a local symbol of the Green Bay Packers and the state’s dairy industry, during his Sunday appearance, reiterating that his $2 million giveaway was an attempt to “get attention.” He said stunts like his “cause the legacy media to kind of lose their minds.”
The countless appearances and spending seemed to have worked, at least from one perspective: The race is currently on pace to be the highest-turnout Wisconsin Supreme Court election ever, according to the Associated Press.
Though the race was officially nonpartisan, Democrats celebrated Crawford’s victory Tuesday night, with many deeming it a litmus test for Trump’s first few months back in office.
The result was an additional gut punch to Musk because of another measure on the ballot: a Republican-led measure to enshrine voter ID into the state constitution, which passed with a solid margin Tuesday as well. The result means many voters likely split their tickets between the Trump-backed policy and Schimel’s candidacy.
For his part, the president ignored Schimel’s loss in a flurry of late-night posts celebrating his victories—though he did shout out the voter ID measure.
“VOTER I.D. JUST APPROVED IN WISCONSIN ELECTION. Democrats fought hard against this, presumably so they can CHEAT,” he wrote on Truth Social. “This is a BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS, MAYBE THE BIGGEST WIN OF THE NIGHT. IT SHOULD ALLOW US TO WIN WISCONSIN, LIKE I JUST DID IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, FOR MANY YEARS TO COME!”
