What to know about a special election for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and why Elon Musk is pouring millions into it

Susan Crawford's convincing victory — and Elon Musk's role in the race — provided plenty of fodder for TV's late-night comedians Wednesday night.

Elon Musk has reacted to Judge Susan Crawford defeating conservative-backed candidate Brad Schimel for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. "The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary," he wrote on X,

The plaintiff claims that Musk, a senior adviser to the POTUS, has breached contract and violated the Pennsylvania Wage Payment Collection Law.

Spending all that money, spending all that cash, just to watch the whole thing burst into flames,” Colbert said. “Now he knows what it’s like to buy a Tesla.”

Liberal wins Wisconsin judicial. April 2, 2025. Wisconsin voters elected Susan Crawford to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 1

Elon Musk was a prominent fundraiser in the campaign, and was the subject of attack ads aired by Crawford's supporters.

The Associated Press called the Wisconsin Supreme Court race for Crawford at 10:16 p.m. ET. With 71% of the votes tallied, Crawford was leading with 55.7% of the vote, compared to Schimel’s 44.3%. With Crawford’s victory,

Elon Musk is downplaying the results of a Wisconsin state Supreme Court race that he had previously said could “determine the fate of Western civilization” after his candidate lost. Musk poured a record $21 million into a normally low-profile and non-partisan judicial race to try to get conservative Brad Schimel elected.