MADISON, Wis. — The Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court defeated a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday, cementing a liberal majority for at least three more years.

Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge who led legal fights to protect union power and abortion rights and to oppose voter ID, defeated Republican-backed Brad Schimel in a race that broke records for spending, was on pace to be the highest-turnout Wisconsin Supreme Court election ever and became a proxy fight for the nation’s political battles.

“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,” Crawford said, referring to Musk. “And we won.”

Trump, Musk and other Republicans lined up behind Schimel, a former state attorney general. Democrats including former President Barack Obama and billionaire megadonor George Soros backed Crawford.

The first major election in the country since November was seen as a litmus test of how voters feel about Trump’s first months back in office and the role played by Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has torn through federal agencies and laid off thousands of workers. Musk traveled to Wisconsin on Sunday to make a pitch for Schimel and personally hand out to $1 million checks to voters.

Early voting was more than 50% ahead of levels seen in the state’s Supreme Court race two years ago, when majority control was also at stake.

Seven polling sites in Milwaukee ran out of ballots, or were nearly out, due to “historic turnout,” and more ballots were on their way before polls closed, said Paulina Gutierrez, the executive director of the Milwaukee Elections Commission.

Clerks all across the state, including in the city’s deep-red suburbs, reported turnout far exceeding 2023 levels.

Schimel told his supporters he had conceded to Crawford, leading to yells of anger. One woman began to chant, “Cheater, cheater!”

“No,” Schimel said. “You’ve got to accept the results.”

A state race with nationwide significance

The court can decide election-related laws and settle disputes over future election outcomes.

“Wisconsin’s a big state politically, and the Supreme Court has a lot to do with elections in Wisconsin,” Trump said Monday. “Winning Wisconsin’s a big deal, so therefore the Supreme Court choice … it’s a big race.”

Crawford embraced the backing of Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights advocates, running ads that highlighted Schimel’s opposition to the procedure. She also attacked Schimel for his ties to Musk and Republicans, referring to Musk as “Elon Schimel” during a debate.

Schimel’s campaign tried to portray Crawford as weak on crime and a puppet of Democrats who, if elected, would push to redraw congressional district boundary lines to hurt Republicans and repeal a GOP-backed state law that took collective bargaining rights away from most public workers.

Voters in Eau Claire seemed to be responding to both messages. Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree, said he voted for Schimel because he’s concerned about redistricting.

Jim Hazelton, a 68-year-old disabled veteran, said he had planned to abstain but voted for Crawford after Musk — whom he described as a “pushy billionaire” — and Trump got involved.

“He’s cutting everything,” Hazelton said of Musk. “People need these things he’s cutting.”

What’s on the court’s agenda?

Crawford’s win keeps the court under a 4-3 liberal majority, as it has been since 2023. A liberal justice is not up for election again until April 2028, ensuring liberals will either maintain or increase their hold on the court until then.

Crawford took the stage Tuesday evening surrounded by the four current liberal justices, thanked each of them and hugged them.

The court likely will be deciding cases on abortion, public sector unions, voting rules and congressional district boundaries. Who controls the court also could factor into how it might rule on any future voting challenge in the perennial presidential battleground state, which raised the stakes of the race for national Republicans and Democrats.

Musk and groups he funded poured more than $21 million into the contest. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, campaigned for Schimel in the closing weeks and said electing him was essential to protecting the Republican agenda. Trump endorsed Schimel just 11 days before the election.

Last year the court declined to take up a Democratic-backed challenge to congressional lines, but Schimel and Musk have said that if Crawford won, the court would redraw congressional districts to make them more favorable to Democrats.

Musk was pushing that message on election day, both on TV and the social media platform he owns, X, urging people to cast ballots in the final hours of voting.

Schimel, who leaned into his Trump endorsement in the closing days of the race, said he would not be beholden to the president or Musk despite the massive spending on the race by groups that Musk supports.

Crawford benefitted from campaign stops by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential nominee last year, and money from billionaire megadonors including Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

Record-breaking donations

The contest was the most expensive court race on record in the U.S., with spending nearing $99 million, according to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice. That broke the previous record of $51 million record, for the state’s Supreme Court race in 2023.

Musk contributed $3 million to the campaign, while groups he funded poured in another $18 million. Musk also gave $1 million each to three voters who signed a petition he circulated against “activist” judges.

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

Musk was silent on his X platform in the wake of Crawford’s victory, reposting a message about Vietnam and tariffs but nothing on the Supreme Court contest.

Related Articles

Democratic-backed Susan Crawford wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, cementing liberal majority

Wisconsin appeals court won’t stop Musk’s $1 million payments to voters after attorney general sues

Wisconsin attorney general sues Elon Musk to block $1 million payment offers

Lisa Jarvis: What we’re getting right fighting the overdose epidemic

What to know about Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race

Schimel leaned into his support from Trump while saying he would not be beholden to the president or Musk. Democrats have centered their messaging on the spending by Musk-funded groups.

“Ultimately I think it’s going to help Susan Crawford, because people do not want to see Elon Musk buying election after election after election,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said Monday. “If it works here, he’s going to do it all over the country.”

Voters weigh in on Musk and reasons for whom they backed
At a polling place in Waunakee near Madison, 39-year-old Iraq War veteran Taylor Sullivan said he voted for Schimel for no reasons connected to Trump or Musk, but rather “because I support the police as much as Schimel does.”

In Milwaukee, 22-year-old college student Kenneth Gifford said he feels that Trump has done damage to American institutions and that Musk is trying to buy votes.

“I want an actual, respectable democracy,” he said.

By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters decided Tuesday to enshrine the state’s voter ID law in the state constitution.

The state was also electing its top education official, who will guide policies affecting K-12 schools during President Donald Trump’s second term, will be elected Tuesday in a race between the teachers union-backed incumbent and a Republican-supported critic.

Both contests had sharp partisan divisions, though they have drawn far less spending and national attention than the race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Polls closed at 8 p.m. CDT.

Here’s a look at the two contests:

Longtime voter ID law enshrined in the state constitution

Wisconsin’s photo ID requirement for voting will be elevated from state law to constitutional amendment under a proposal approved by voters.

Related Articles

Naval Academy removes nearly 400 books from library in new DEI purge ordered by Hegseth’s office

Anger against Trump is likely to cost the US international visitors, forecaster says

Trump administration pauses some family planning grants as it investigates compliance with laws

Most immigrants at risk of deportation from US are Christian, report finds

Melania Trump says courage is ‘based in love’ as she honors women from around the world for bravery

The Republican-controlled Legislature placed the measure on the ballot and pitched it as a way to bolster election security and protect the law from being overturned in court.

Democratic opponents argued that photo ID requirements are often enforced unfairly, making voting more difficult for people of color, disabled people and poor people.

Wisconsin voters won’t notice any changes when they go to the polls. They will still have to present a valid photo ID just as they have under the state law, which was passed in 2011 and went into effect permanently in 2016 after a series of unsuccessful lawsuits.

Placing the photo ID requirement in the constitution makes it more difficult for a future Legislature controlled by Democrats to change the law. Any constitutional amendment must be approved in two consecutive legislative sessions and by a statewide popular vote.

Republican legislators celebrated the measure’s passage.

“This will help maintain integrity in the electoral process, no matter who controls the Legislature,” Sen. Van Wanggaard, who co-authored the amendment, said in a statement.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is leading Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government, also noted the outcome on his social media platform, X, saying: “Yeah!”

Wisconsin is one of nine states where people must present photo ID to vote, and its requirement is the nation’s strictest, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-six states have laws requiring or requesting that voters show some sort of identification, according to the NCSL.

Union-backed incumbent faces GOP-backed voucher advocate

The race to lead the state Department of Public Instruction pits incumbent Jill Underly, who is backed by Democrats and the teachers union, against consultant Brittany Kinser, a supporter of the private school voucher program who is endorsed by Republicans but calls herself a moderate.

FILE – This photo released by the Jill Underly campaign shows Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly in Hollandale, Wis. in 2024. (Jill Underly campaign via AP, File)

Wisconsin is the only state where voters elect the top education official but there is no state board of education. That gives the superintendent broad authority to oversee education policy, from dispersing school funding to managing teacher licensing.

The winner will take office at a time when test scores are still recovering from the pandemic, the achievement gap between white and Black students remains the worst in the country and more schools are asking voters to raise property taxes to pay for operations.

Underly’s education career began in 1999 as a high school social studies teacher in Indiana. She moved to Wisconsin in 2005 and worked for five years at the state education department. She also was principal of Pecatonica Elementary School for a year before becoming district administrator.

Underly, 47, was elected state superintendent in 2021 and was endorsed by the union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, as well as the Wisconsin Democratic Party and numerous Democratic officeholders.

Kinser, whose backers include the Wisconsin Republican Party and former Republican Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker, is vying to become the first GOP-affiliated person to hold the superintendent position in more than 30 years.

FILE – This photo released by the Brittany Kinser campaign shows education consultant and candidate for Wisconsin Department of Instruction secretary Brittany Kinser. (Brittany Kinser campaign via AP, File)

She worked for almost 10 years as a special education teacher and instructional coach in Chicago Public Schools. After that she spent 15 years at public charter schools in Chicago, California and Milwaukee.

In the Milwaukee area, Kinser worked for Rocketship schools, part of a national network of public charter institutions, and became its executive director for the region.

In 2022 she left Rocketship for City Forward Collective, a Milwaukee nonprofit that advocates for charter and voucher schools. She also founded a consulting firm where she currently works.

Kinser, 47, tried to brand Underly as being a poor manager of the Department of Public Instruction and keyed in on her overhaul of state achievement standards last year.

Underly said that was done to better reflect what students are learning now, but the change was met with bipartisan opposition including from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who was previously state superintendent himself. Evers has not made an endorsement in the race.

Kinser said the new standards lowered the bar for students and made it more difficult to evaluate how schools and districts are performing over time.

Underly portrayed Kinser as nothing more than a lobbyist who doesn’t care about public education. Kinser supports the state’s private school voucher and charter school program, which Democrats and Underly oppose on the grounds that such programs siphon needed money away from public schools.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kevin O’Connell spoke for exactly 31 minutes, 58 seconds on Tuesday morning at the NFL owners meetings. He answered a wide array of questions from local reporters, while national reporters occasionally chimed in with some inquiries of their own.

Not once did Aaron Rodgers come up in conversation.

It was a breath of fresh air for pretty much everybody involved, considering Rodgers has dominated headlines at seemingly every turn.

The reprieve from the rumors gave O’Connell a chance to provide insight into the many moves the Vikings have made this offseason. It marked the first time he has gone in depth about everything that has happened over the past few weeks.

Here are five takeaways from that conversation:

The decision to pair Aaron Jones with Jordan Mason

After striking a new deal with Aaron Jones last month on the eve of free agency, the Vikings immediately started canvassing the market in search of a complementary piece to pair alongside him in the backfield.

Though he managed to play in every game last season, Jones finished with a career high 306 touches, a heavy workload that isn’t sustainable as he slowly progresses into the later stages of his career.

“We wanted to make sure we were using Aaron in a way that allowed him to be his most impactful self,” O’Connell said. “When he has historically had that 1A, 1B backfield structure, he can be a total game changer every time he touches it.”

That led to the Vikings acquiring Mason via a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. His impressive performance against the Vikings last season — he finished with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown — played a role in him emerging as a viable option.

“We really felt what we were looking for was right before our very eyes,” O’Connell said. “He’s tough to tackle when he gets in space, and he has burst and explosion to finish runs.”

The combination of Jones and Mason should give the Vikings some versatility in the backfield as they aim for a marriage between the run and the pass that makes them unpredictable on offense.

The thought process behind signing injured players

It’s not hard to find the common thread when looking at some of the key players the Vikings added in free agency. They signed Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave on the defensive line, and Ryan Kelly and Will Fries on the offensive line, all of whom missed significant time due to injuries last season.

Why did they do that? It’s pretty clear that the Vikings feel like they possess a competitive advantage with Tyler Williams leading their medical staff.

“They’ve just proven it time and time again,” O’Connell said. “They’re world class down there with what they do.”

Not only do the Vikings believe Allen, Hargrave, Kelly, and Fries will be back to 100 percent ahead of next season, they also believe Williams and the medical staff can put together a plan that maximizes their ability to stay healthy moving forward.

The only player that the Vikings signed in free agency that could potentially have his rehab extend into training camp is Rondale Moore, as the receiver continues to recover from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The return of Harrison Smith and why it matters

There was an unwritten rule that existed between O’Connell and Harrison Smith this offseason when it came to the possibility of retirement. They were allowed to communicate so long as football didn’t come up in any way, shape or form.

There were some text messages about golf here and there and some phone calls about life in general.

“He called me one morning and said, ‘Hey Bossman, I think I’ve got one more in me,’” O’Connell said. “I was like, ‘Am I allowed to talk about football yet?’”

Nobody was more excited than O’Connell that Smith ultimately decided to delay retirement for a little while longer.

“He’s a huge part of who I am as a coach,” O’Connell said. “He’s a huge part of what we’ve built together in Minnesota.”

It can’t be overstated how much Smith means to everything Brian Flores wants to do on defense.

Never mind that Smith is in the twilight of his career. He still plays virtually every snap and proved last season that he can still make an impact.

“Just having him back is massive,” O’Connell said. “He’s a really good player and brings so much.”

The depth at cornerback behind Byron Murphy Jr.

It was important for the Vikings to find a way to keep Byron Murphy Jr. They did that by coming to the table and signing Murphy to a lucrative contract that makes him among the highest-paid players at his position.

The addition of Isaiah Rodgers shouldn’t be overlooked, however, especially considering Flores identified him as a target in the early stages of free agency.

“When he has that tone in his voice about guys, he has been pretty darn accurate,” O’Connell said. “No pressure on Isaiah.”

That Flores was so bullish on Rodgers comes with its own set of expectations. No longer can Rodgers live in obscurity. He’s going to be expected to take the next step in his career as soon as he starts getting reps with the starters.

Aside from Murphy and Rodgers, the Vikings also signed Jeff Okudah, who joins a group that also includes Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern.

“Our roster is pretty full at that position right now,” O’Connell said. “It’s going to be competitive throughout the spring.”

The plan heading into the draft

There are a number of ways the Vikings could use the No. 24 pick. They could trade down and add more draft capital. They could stay put and take the best player available.

The optionality is something the Vikings suddenly have as a luxury after addressing so many weaknesses in free agency.

“I think the best player available is good at some positions,” O’Connell said. “We don’t want the best player available to have such a tremendous roadblock in front of them to getting on the field.”

Essentially, if the Vikings decide to use the No. 24 pick on a player, they want that player to be able to come in and make their presence felt as soon as possible.

Related Articles

Vikings want to strike a deal with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell expresses confidence in J.J. McCarthy, confirms he’s talked to Aaron Rodgers

Which veteran quarterbacks (not named Aaron Rodgers) make sense for Vikings

Vikings ready to roll with J.J. McCarthy, won’t rule out Aaron Rodgers

Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah downplays lack of contract extension

U.S. Bank executive Terrance “Terry” Dolan, 63, of Edina, was officially identified as the pilot flying the small plane that crashed into a Brooklyn Park house last weekend, the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office announced Tuesday.

The day after the crash, U.S. Bank had said the Minneapolis-based company believed that Dolan, its vice chair and chief administrative officer, had been piloting the plane, a single-engine Socata TBM7.

The crash occurred about 12:20 p.m. Saturday near 109th Avenue North and Noble Parkway. One of the two occupants of the house was home at the time and was able to escape without injury. Nobody else was killed or injured besides Dolan. The house was destroyed by the plane nose-diving into the roof and the subsequent fire.

One neighboring home suffered damage to its siding and some homes had debris from the crash in their yards, authorities said.

Dolan was flying back to Minnesota from Naples, Fla. After a stop in Des Moines, Iowa, he departed for the Anoka County-Blaine Airport, which is a few miles from the crash site.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

Related Articles

High school hockey coach, Lakeville officer returns home 2 months after injury

U.S. Bank exec believed to be sole fatality in Brooklyn Park plane crash

Passenger flight to MSP and Air Force jet diverted from potential collision at DC airport

Anoka County Jail inmate collapses, dies

‘Just too trusting’: North metro woman shares bank scam story in hopes of sparing others