Liberal judge defeats Brad Schimel in the most expensive judicial election in US history, which cost a combined $80m

Summary

Liberal judge Susan Crawford defeated Elon Musk-backed conservative Brad Schimel in Wisconsin’s supreme court race, preserving a 4-3 liberal majority.

The high-stakes contest, which drew over $80 million—$20 million from Musk and affiliates—became the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.

Democrats framed the election as a referendum on Musk and Trump, fueling turnout and grassroots support.

The liberal court majority will influence key rulings on abortion, labor rights, and congressional redistricting. Milwaukee saw historic turnout, with multiple polling sites running out of ballots during the evening rush.

  • oxysis@lemm.eeEnglish
    37·
    1 day ago

    On behalf of all nonfascist Wisconsinites, fuck you fascist schimel

    • very_well_lost@lemmy.worldEnglish
      27·
      1 day ago

      What’s disgusting is that’s only 0.000059% of his total wealth. If instead Musk were only worth $50,000, it would be the equivalent of him spending just 3 bucks on the election.

      Eat the fucking rich.

      • MrVilliam@lemm.eeEnglish
        13·
        1 day ago

        And on top of that, there is a baseline cost to existing. Even basic shelter and average supplies would eat up a significant chunk of $50k. Spending $20M on a mansion and premium supplies is a drop in the bucket for somebody like Musk, yet that’s literally not something most of us would even dream of having because we could think of much better uses for $20M than just having upgraded shit with such diminishing returns for its cost.

        For those in the back, this is also why it would be fucking stupid for a working class person to advocate for replacing income tax with increased sales tax. The wealthy don’t spend their money like you do, so they’re keeping even more of their hoards if they can successfully trick enough people into eradicating their income tax bill.

      • longjohnjohnson@lemmy.ml
        11·
        23 hours ago

        There’s a difference between net worth, and liquidity. That came out of his liquidity pool.

        Edit, not sure why I was downvoted, this is the truth. A lot of his wealth is tied up in loans against his stocks. If you do enough damage, he has to sell more stock to pay that back, eventually over leveraging himself.

        It would take a lot to do that today, which is why going after his TSLA sick price hurts him the most right now.

  • gamer@lemm.ee
    7·
    1 day ago

    I hope those people who voted for Crawford ALSO signed Musk’s stupid petition and got some money out of him.