Supreme Court Race

Dane County Judge Susan Crawford prevailed decisively over Waukesha County Judge and former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel.  With 99% of votes counted, the results for this non-partisan race are as follows:

• Susan Crawford:              55.0%
• Brad Schimel:                   45.0%

Key Points in this Race

• The statewide voter turnout in this particular race is around 50% of the state’s voting age population, which is a record.  The previous record for statewide turnout during a spring state Supreme Court race was in 2023, when 39% of Wisconsin’s voting age residents turned out to vote.

• Crawford’s win will maintain the 4-3 liberal majority on the court, which began after Justice Janet Protasiewicz won her state Supreme Court race in the spring of 2023. Crawford will begin her term on the court on August 1, 2025, and serves a 10-year term. 

• Over $104 million was estimated to be spent by both campaigns and allied groups in this race – which has turned out to be the most expensive state Supreme Court election in our nation’s history. 
• This race featured a high level of spending from very wealthy individuals in support of each candidate, including Elon Musk in support of Schimel and Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in support of Crawford. 
• President Donald Trump endorsed Schimel in this race. 
• This race was generally viewed on the national level as a litmus test on Donald Trump’s second term as President. 

State Superintendent of Schools Race

Incumbent Jill Underly prevailed over educational consultant Brittany Kinser in a race that did not get the same level of attention as the state Supreme Court race.  With 99% of votes counted, the results for this non-partisan race are as follows:

• Jill Underly:                       52.9%
• Brittany Kinser:                47.1%   

Key Points in this Race

• While this race is also technically non-partisan, the state Democratic party endorsed Underly, and the state Republican party endorsed Kinser.  Both state party organizations contributed a significant amount of funding to each respective campaign. 
• Historically, the candidate with the endorsement of the state’s teachers’ union has won this race.  In this race, the union endorsed Underly. 
• In this race, Underly faced some controversy when she changed the state’s K-12 testing standards. Kinser also faced controversy, as she let her state educator’s license lapse. 

Statewide Constitutional Referendum

There was also one statewide referendum question on the April 1 ballot intended to amend the state constitution with respect to voter identification.  The following language was included on the April 1 ballot:

“Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?"

With 99% of votes counted, the results for this referendum are as follows:

• YES:       62.8%
• NO:        37.2%

 

Key Points on this Referendum

• Currently, state law requires voters to present photo identification when voting.  However, Legislators who proposed this referendum championed this effort due to concerns that either the state Supreme Court could overturn this law or that it could be rescinded during a future legislative session with a Democratic majority. 

• Proponents of this constitutional amendment argue that voter identification should be required to increase confidence in elections and guard against fraud.

Opponents of this constitutional amendment argue that this will make it harder for Wisconsinites without photo identification to vote, including elderly individuals and those who are disabled.