Hi, I'm Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent here at Mother Jones.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel was billed as "Susan-versus-Goliath." Democracy vs. oligarchy. The progressive judge from Madison vs. the richest man in the world. (Speaking of Elon Musk, you must read this delicious takedown by my colleague Tim Murphy.)
On Tuesday night, Susan—and democracy—won. Crawford defeated the Musk-backed Schimel by 10 points, a landslide in Wisconsin, and overcame $25 million in spending against her from Musk, who ran the most openly brazen scheme to buy an election in modern US history.
This gleeful image of a piece of cheese crushing a Cybertruck outside the state Capitol circulated widely among Wisconsin Democrats and progressives after the election.
Crawford’s decisive victory was a seismic event both inside and outside Wisconsin. On a state level, the court will remain in progressive hands at least through 2028 and could soon decide the fate of an 1849 abortion ban, a law restricting collective bargaining for public sector unions, and Wisconsin’s gerrymandered congressional maps—the latter of which could help determine which party controls the US House after 2026.
But, because of Musk, the race was much bigger than just a judicial election in Wisconsin. Crawford’s victory provides a blueprint for how Democrats and progressives can run against Musk’s plan for oligarchy all across the country—and win.
“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,” Crawford said at her victory party Tuesday night. “Our courts are not for sale.”
—Ari Berman
