Dane County Judge Susan Crawford won the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election early Tuesday night, defeating Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel with 55% of the final vote. Her win allows liberals to keep the majority on Wisconsin’s highest court as cases concerning several hot button issues, including abortion rights and congressional maps, work their way through the judicial system.
The election was met by high voter turnout, with more than 2.3 million Wisconsin voters casting ballots.
Crawford’s win comes after what became the most expensive judicial campaign in U.S. history, with spending surpassing $90 million. The vote was seen by some as a referendum on Elon Musk, who gave two $1 million checks to voters at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday. Groups associated with Musk have also contributed millions of dollars in advertising content supporting Schimel’s campaign.
Crawford thanked her supporters and said the result was a victory for fair justice.
“Today, Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our supreme court. And Wisconsinites stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price – our courts are not for sale,” Crawford said.
Brad Schimel conceded early in the night, saying he called Crawford personally to acknowledge her win. Speaking to supporters, he expressed gratitude for their efforts during the hard–fought campaign. Some people shouted back, accusing Crawford of cheating, which Schimel quickly shut down.
“You did all the work. You put all your heart into it,” Schimel said at an event in Waukesha. “I can’t thank you enough for everything you did to try to make this a success, but it just didn’t work.”
Justice-elect Susan Crawford will take her position on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Aug. 1 to serve a term of 10 years.
State superintendent election and referendum
At the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Jill Underly was reelected to serve another term as state superintendent, winning with 53% of the vote and defeating GOP-backed Brittany Kinser.
Wisconsin voters also overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment requiring photo identification in order to vote.
This story was written by Sahil Gupta. He can be reached at sahil.gupta@marquette.edu.
