Money always doesn't make the mare go. Wisconsin is proof.

Wisconsin voters handed a decisive victory to liberal candidate Susan Crawford in Tuesday’s Supreme Court election, dealing a political and financial blow to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who had aggressively backed her conservative opponent, Brad Schimel.

Musk travelled to Wisconsin on Sunday to make a pitch for Schimel and personally hand out to USD 1 million checks to voters.

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.

"I've got to tell you, as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I'd be taking on the richest man in the world for justice and Wisconsin. And we won!" Crawford told supporters in a celebration in Madison, the state capital.

Big money, Big stakes, Big loss

The election shattered records as the most expensive judicial race in US history, with spending soaring past $90 million, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general, received a massive boost from Musk and Trump-aligned political groups, who funneled over $21 million into his campaign. Musk himself rallied for Schimel in Wisconsin, offering financial incentives for voters.

Musk’s involvement quickly became a flashpoint in the race.

The Tesla CEO, whose Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been slashing federal agency budgets under Trump’s directive, was accused of having a vested interest in the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s future rulings.

Tesla is currently embroiled in a legal battle over state dealership laws, a case that could eventually land before the very court Crawford now joins.

Musk declined to comment on accusations that his financial involvement in the race was self-serving.

Trump’s judiciary gambit stumbles

Schimel leaned heavily into his Trump endorsement, hoping to capitalise on the president’s hold over the GOP base.

But with 75% of the vote counted, Crawford held a 10-point lead (55% to 45%), a margin of 178,000 votes—a rebuke to Trump’s influence in a state he won by less than one percentage point in November.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., had campaigned aggressively for Schimel, calling the race “essential to protecting the Republican agenda.” However, the Supreme Court contest became yet another high-profile loss for a Trump-endorsed candidate, raising questions about the president’s ability to transfer his political capital to down-ballot races.

With the Wisconsin Supreme Court poised to rule on critical issues—including abortion rights, voting laws, and public sector unions—Crawford’s victory sends shockwaves beyond the state.

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.

Musk’s high-profile push to influence the judiciary didn’t stop at Wisconsin. On his social media platform X, he recently backed Trump’s calls for the impeachment of federal judges, including U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ruled against one of Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.

“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge… should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump raged on X, a post Musk swiftly endorsed, saying, “Impeaching a lot of judges in our country is essential.”

The Fallout

Crawford’s victory hands a major defeat to the Trump-Musk alliance, but it’s unlikely to be the last time the two men attempt to reshape the judiciary to their advantage.

In recent weeks, Musk has clashed with federal judges, particularly after a Maryland court blocked his attempt to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), calling his actions “likely unconstitutional.”

Musk had previously boasted that he spent a weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” a statement that triggered legal challenges from current and former agency employees.

But voters have drawn a line in the sand.