Crawford cruises in victory over Schimel

Progressive Dane County circuit judge Susan Crawford swept to a robust and easy win over conservative Waukesha circuit judge and former attorney general Brad Schimel Tuesday in the race for an open state Supreme Court seat, sealing a progressive majority on the court until at least 2028.

With 95 percent of the vote counted, Crawford led Schimel by about 240,000 votes out of 2.3 million votes cast, for a resounding 55-45 percent victory. Crawford will replace retiring liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley on July 1.

In the race for state school superintendent, incumbent Jill Underly outpaced challenger Brittany Kinser, a moderate Democrat whom conservatives were also backing. Kinser ran a stronger race than Schimel, losing by 53-47 percent and by about 125,000 votes.

In the only bright spot of the night for conservatives, the state’s voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment requiring a voter ID to vote in elections in the state, approving the measure 62-37 percent with a margin of nearly 600,000 votes. Voters approved the ballot measure in 69 of the state’s 72 counties. Milwaukee and Dane voted thumbs down, with Columbia County still not reporting.

In Oneida and Vilas counties, Schimel and Kinser turned the tables on the statewide vote, each winning 54 percent in Oneida County and Schimel taking Vilas County with 59 percent of the vote. Kinser won 58 percent of the vote in Vilas County.

The Supreme Court race was a dark spot on an otherwise good night for the GOP nationally, as Republicans kept two GOP-controlled seats in Florida by double digits.

But the results in Wisconsin were another marker on the path of an overall decade-long trek back to the blue side of politics for the state. Expect rulings on the constitutionality of Act 10 — which prohibits most public sector collective bargaining — and school choice to proceed on fast tracks. 

The high court will likely also attempt to redraw congressional district lines, with Democrats believing they can flip two of the seats. Republican currently enjoy a 6-2 congressional advantage.

The race featured record-setting spending to go along with record-setting turnout in a so-called nonpartisan race.

By most accounts, Elon Musk spent at least $20 million in the state on behalf of Schimel, with Musk handing out two $1 million checks to voters who signed petitions opposing activist judges. On the left, George Soros had waded into the race, too, adding more than a million dollars for Crawford.

The race didn’t look good for Schimel from the start and was called quickly. Early on, Schimel was unable to gather margins he needed in once deep-red counties, including his home county of Waukesha, where he gained only close to 58 percent of the vote.

In fact, the WOW suburban counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington were a bust. Ozaukee was much closer than Waukesha, with Schimel winning just 51.6 percent of the vote. Only Washington County still wowed for the Republicans, with Schimel gaining a margin of 66 percent.

In the days before the election, Republicans had pinned their hopes on a huge surge in early voting in traditionally Republican strongholds. Waukesha’s voting totals were triple what they had been, for example, and early voting was more than 50 percent ahead of previous years in many Republican areas. 

By Tuesday, voters had already cast 645,000 absentee ballots.

Republicans knew going in they needed a large increase over the 2023 court vote of about 1.85 million votes, and they got it. The 2.33-million votes cast Tuesday represented a huge turnout increase of more 25 percent, but to no avail for Schimel — he still lost by about the same margin as conservative Dan Kelly did two years ago.

Of course, the unknown was whether those early votes actually represented higher Republican turnout or whether they were simply cannibalizing their election day vote. That didn’t turned out to be the case, but the downside for Republicans is that turnout was up for Democrats, too.

Turnout was so high in Milwaukee that seven precincts ran out of ballots.

Reaction

Art her victory speech, Crawford showed jubilation at her dispatch not only of Schimel but of Musk.

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

Schimel was gracious in his concession, quieting those supporters who did not want him to concede. The Waukesha judge told the crowd to accept the outcome: “We’re not going to pull this off,” he said.

Schimel thanks his supporters profusely.

“You did all the work,” he said. “You put all your heart into it. I can’t thank you enough for everything you did to try to make this a success, but it just didn’t work.”

But the judge said a loss is not a knock out.

“We will rise again,” he said. “We’ll get up to fight another day, but this wasn’t our day.”

For her part, Kinser said she had been honored to campaign across the state on behalf of the state’s children.

“While this is not the outcome I had hoped for, I hope that my candidacy has inspired conversations about the importance of restoring high standards and ensuring every child can read, write, and do math well, so they have the opportunity to go to college, secure a meaningful job, or master a trade,” Kinser said. “We know that our children meet expectations when standards are set high.”

Kinser said she was proud of her team for the positive, clean campaign they ran. 

“Our kids’ future shouldn’t rest on the politicization of our education system, but on the belief that our kids deserve so much better than they currently receive,” she said. “This is not the end. I look forward to working for our kids to ensure that 95 percent of students can read at proficiency and work to support our local leaders who seek to do the same.”

Underly said her win was a victory not just for her campaign, but for every educator, family, and child across the state. 

“This victory belongs to all of us who believe in the power of public education,” Underly said. “It’s a testament to our shared commitment to ensuring that every child in Wisconsin has access to a high-quality education, regardless of their zip code. Together, we’ve championed the belief that public dollars should fund public schools, and tonight, that belief has been reaffirmed.”

The last four years were years of making significant progress, Underly said.

“We’ve seen our graduation rates reach the highest in state history, and our schools climb to be ranked 6th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report — up from 14th in 2020,” she said. “We’ve implemented higher standards for math and science, expanded career and technical education, and passed a new bipartisan literacy law to ensure our students are better prepared for the future.”

But Underly said the work was far from over.

“We face challenges ahead, including navigating the uncertainties brought by changes at the federal level,” she said. “With the Trump administration hell-bent on dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, our role in defending and advocating for our public schools becomes even more critical. We must stand united to protect the funding and resources that our schools and kids so desperately rely on to succeed.”

Republicans and conservatives sought solace in the passage of the voter ID constitutional amendment.

“Wisconsin voters sent a loud message this evening in support of securing our elections by enshrining voter photo ID in the state constitution,” MacIver CEO Annette Olson said. “The MacIver Institute has been a leader in the movement to secure our elections. It’s evident that Wisconsin voters value their right to vote.”

Olson said that requiring photo ID and ensuring that only citizens can vote is common sense. 

“It’s evident that Wisconsin voters value their right to vote and enshrining the constitutional amendment in the state constitution is proof of that,” she said. “Tonight’s constitutional amendment vote is a big step forward in ensuring election integrity and protecting every legal vote.”

State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), a huge proponent of voter ID laws, also praised the result.

“I want to thank the voters for ensuring that voter ID will remain the law of Wisconsin regardless of the political whims of the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Wanggaard said. “This will help maintain integrity in the electoral process, no matter who controls the Legislature.”

Wanggaard said the results were eye opening.

“It’s telling, once again, how every Democrat in the Legislature opposed this measure that was overwhelmingly approved by voters,” he said. “It shows when it comes to the issues, elected Democrats stand with the radical left rather than with the common-sense people of Wisconsin.”

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.