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

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court defeated a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday, touting her victory as a win against powerful interests and 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, stood on stage surrounded by the court's four current liberal justices and celebrated her win as a victory for democracy while also taking a dig at 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.”

Musk and groups he backed had spent more than $21 million in an effort to defeat Crawford. Musk even traveled to Wisconsin two days before the election to personally hand over $1 million checks to two voters.

“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.”

Crawford defeated Republican-backed Brad Schimel in a race that broke records for spending, was the highest-turnout Wisconsin Supreme Court election ever and became a proxy fight for the nation’s political battles.

Overnight, Musk posted on his X platform that “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary.” In another comment, he seemed to take solace from voters’ approval to elevate the state’s photo ID requirement from state law to constitutional amendment.

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.

Crawford was beating Schimel by more than 8 points, based on unofficial results. Turnout exceeded 52% of the voting age population, topping the record set in 2023 of nearly 40%. Spending was on its way to surpass $100 million.

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.”

Schimel played bass with his classic rock cover band at his election night party both before and after conceding defeat, covering songs by the Allman Brothers, Tom Petty and others.

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 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 respond to both messages. Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree, said he voted for Schimel because he was 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 called a “pushy billionaire” — and Trump got involved.

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

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 thanked each of the current liberal justices and hugged each of them after her win. One of the four is retiring, creating the open seat she won.

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.

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 pushed that message on election day, both on TV and on X, urging people to cast ballots in the final hours.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Pewaukee, Wisconsin; Ali Swenson in New York; Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta; Thomas Beaumont in Madison, Wisconsin; and Mark Vancleave in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel makes his concession speech to a crowd at his election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Elon Musk speaks at a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, center, hugs her daughter Maisie Peters, left, during Crawford's election night party after winning the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel hugs supporters after making his concession speech Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley celebrates during an election night party for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford after Crawford won the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford speaks during her election night party after winning the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, center, speaks during her election night party after winning the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford takes the stage during her election night party after winning the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel makes his concession speech to a crowd at his election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel makes his concession speech to a crowd at his election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley speaks during an election night party for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford after Crawford won the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford waves during her election night party after winning the election Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Supporters for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford cheer during her election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Stickers for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford are seen at her election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Sandy Solo, of Milwaukee, watches a broadcast as ballots are tallied during Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford's election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Supporters for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford take a photo in front of a sign during her election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Supporters of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford celebrate during her election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Supporters for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford cheer during her election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Attendees watch a CNN broadcast as ballots are tallied during Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford's election night party Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, center, warms up with his band "4 on the Floor" early at his election night party April 1, 2025, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Maximillian Marquez marks his ballot while voting at the Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language in the state's Supreme Court election, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Mike Rohleder marks his ballot while voting at Waters Edge event venue in the state's Supreme Court election, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Signs supporting Brad Schimel for Wisconsin Supreme Court and Brittany Kinser for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction adorn the lawn of a farm along County Road A on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, near Tibbets, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Josette Baublitz marks her ballot while voting at Waters Edge event venue in the state's Supreme Court election, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Voters mark their ballots while voting at Waters Edge event venue in the state's Supreme Court election, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Christopher Bravata, right, marks his ballot while voting at the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building on Election Day, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

A voter enters Centennial Hall at the Milwaukee Central Library to vote on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Signs supporting Judge Susan Crawford, voting and election officials adorn the front yard of a home on South Sixteenth Street on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Tainesha Johnson (CQ), center, marks her ballot while voting at Centennial Hall at the Milwaukee Central Library on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Olivia Hansen carries her unmarked ballot to the voting booth while voting at Centennial Hall at the Milwaukee Central Library on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Voters mark their ballots while voting at Centennial Hall at the Milwaukee Central Library on Election Day Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford has her photo taken with supporters Saturday, March 29, 2025 at a campaign stop at a field office for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel addresses a rally Saturday, March 29, 2025 on a campaign stop at the American Serb Memorial Hall in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Elon Musk speaks during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford addresses a crowd Saturday, March 29, 2025 at a campaign stop at a field office for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, center, speaks with supporters as former Gov. Scott Walker, left, watches on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

FILE - This combination of file photos shows Brad Schimel, former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel, in Madison, Wis., Jan. 5, 2015, and Susan Crawford in June 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, Susan Crawford for Wisconsin, File)

PHOENIX (AP) — Lori Vallow Daybell, who was convicted of killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival, is on trial again Monday. This time, she's accused in Arizona of conspiring to murder her estranged husband.

In opening statements the prosecution said that Vallow Daybell conspired with brother Alex Cox to kill Charles Vallow and cash in on a life insurance policy, while espousing the belief that he was possessed by an evil spirit.

The case has drawn significant public attention in part because Vallow Daybell, 51, has doomsday-focused religious beliefs. She isn’t a lawyer but has chosen to represent herself in the six-week trial.

Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty and said in her opening statement that Cox acted in self-defense, describing the death as a tragedy but not a crime.

Here’s what to know about the case.

“Lori Vallow is why Alex was able to shoot Charles,” prosecutor Treena Kay said. “Lori Vallow is why Charles is dead.”

A jury of 16 took their seats in a Phoenix courtroom, including four alternate jurors. Kay provided a detailed timeline and argued that phone records, witness testimony and forensic evidence will show that Cox’s shooting of Vallow was “not self-defense.”

The prosecution also said Monday that Vallow Daybell conspired in the killing so that she could move forward with marrying her then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, an Idaho author who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world.

“Lori Vallow wanted to be Lori Daybell, wife of Chad Daybell, and in July 2019 Lori Vallow wanted to keep the same lifestyle that she had with Charles. And she could get all of this if Charles was dead,” Kay said. “She could marry Chad Daybell and become Lori Daybell. She would get a million-dollar life insurance policy.”

Vallow Daybell’s voice broke in her opening statement as she detailed the physical altercation with a baseball bat between her daughter Tylee Ryan and Vallow.

“Self-defense is not a crime. Family tragedy is not a crime, it’s a tragedy,” Vallow Daybell said.

Jurors heard from witnesses including police officers who testified that, after the shooting, Vallow Daybell and Cox both displayed calm demeanors.

Vallow was fatally shot in July 2019. Vallow Daybell then moved to Idaho with two of her youngest children and married Daybell two weeks after the death of his wife, Tammy Daybell. The bodies of the children — 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee — were later found buried in rural Idaho on Chad Daybell’s property.

Vallow Daybell is already serving three life sentences in Idaho for the children’s deaths and for conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death in the three killings.

Four months before he died, Charles Vallow filed for divorce from Vallow Daybell, saying she had become infatuated with near-death experiences and had claimed to have lived numerous lives on other planets.

He alleged she threatened to ruin him financially and kill him. He sought a voluntary mental health evaluation of his wife.

Police say Vallow was fatally shot by Cox at a home in a Phoenix suburb. Tylee, told police that she confronted Vallow with a baseball bat after she was awakened by yelling in the house.

Tylee said she was trying to defend her mother, but Vallow took away the bat, according to police records. Cox told police that he fired after Vallow refused to drop the bat and came after him.

Cox told investigators that Vallow Daybell and the children left the house shortly before the shooting.

Cox, who claimed he acted in self-defense and wasn’t arrested in Vallow’s death, died five months later from what medical examiners said was a blood clot in his lungs. Cox’s account was later called into question.

Vallow Daybell was a beautician by trade, a mother of three and a wife — five times over.

She married Vallow in 2006, and later adopted JJ, but by 2019 their marriage had soured. The two were estranged but still married when Cox fatally shot Vallow.

Public interest from around the world only grew as the investigation into the missing children took several unexpected turns, each new revelation seemingly stranger than the last.

Daybell, who was once a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune,” has been the subject of a Netflix documentary and Lifetime movie.

If convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill Vallow, she would face a life sentence.

During the opening for the trial, Vallow Daybell wore civilian clothing. She won’t be handcuffed or shackled when jurors are in the courtroom. However, she has to wear a belt-like device under her clothes that will let a jail officer deliver an electric shock by remote control if there’s a disturbance.

The Idaho investigation began at the end of 2019 when Vallow Daybell's adopted son's grandmother, worried about his welfare, reached out to police. Vallow Daybell had been evasive when asked about her two youngest children.

Chad Daybell called 911 in October 2019 to report that his wife Tammy Daybell was battling an illness and died in her sleep. Her body was later exhumed, and an autopsy determined she died of asphyxiation.

Idaho police did a welfare check on the kids in November 2019 and discovered they were missing and hadn't been seen since early September. Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell left town a short time later, eventually turning up in Hawaii without the kids. She was arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on a warrant out of Idaho.

Defense attorneys told jurors that she was a “kind and loving mother” who happened to be interested in religion and biblical prophesies.

A witness at the Idaho trial said Vallow Daybell believes evil spirits have taken over people in her life and turned them into “zombies.”

Testimony resumes Tuesday.

In late May, Vallow Daybell is scheduled to go on trial again in Arizona on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux. She has pleaded not guilty.

This story has been updated to correct the attribution to a quote accusing the defendant of being the reason why Charles Vallow is dead. It was Treena Kay who was quoted, not Kay Woodcock.

FILE - A boy looks at a memorial for Tylee Ryan and Joshua "JJ" Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho, on June 11, 2020. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, File)

FILE - Larry Woodcock speaks to media members at the Rexburg Standard Journal Newspaper in Rexburg, Idaho on Jan. 7, 2020, while holding a reward flyer for Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, File)

FILE - Lori Vallow Daybell talks with her lawyers before the jury's verdict is read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho on May 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)