Chuck Kornbach
Appearances
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Well, in the end, the liberal judge from Madison Crawford won with a comfortable margin, about 235,000 votes, nine percentage points over Schimel, the conservative judge from suburban Milwaukee. Crawford even took some counties that have gone pretty often for Republicans in recent years. including Brown County, that's mainly Green Bay, where Elon Musk held a rally Sunday night.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
One of the other big stories from last night was the surge in voter turnout on both sides. Early voting and in-person voting exceeded many clerks' expectations. And, of course, there was the spending. Both sides spent really big. Yeah, Musk and groups associated with him spent about $20 million. Crawford had a lot of money to spend, though, too, including from mega donors like George Soros,
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Well, a few things. This race, even though the court is nonpartisan, it was definitely a win for Democrats, and they're claiming victory against the president, his administration, and Musk. And I heard that from voters, too. They say Musk's doge effort is going too fast, too broadly.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
From young voters, though, I also heard a lot about reproductive rights, which was the big issue in the last state Supreme Court election we had here two years ago. For more conservative voters, I heard support for the president and for Musk and that Schimel could protect Trump's policies and agenda.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
The state GOP says they're disappointed about last night, but are looking forward to 2026 when they say they'll have the opportunity to defend President Trump's agenda in more elections.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Well, abortion is already in front of the court. They're going to have to decide soon on whether an 1849 Wisconsin law that halted abortions here for 15 months right after the Dobbs decision is constitutional. Next, the matter of Act 10. That's the big fight from 15 years ago that curtailed union bargaining rights for most public sector workers.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
The court could decide if parts of that law are unconstitutional. And one issue we heard a lot about from Musk and was congressional redistricting, his contention that Democrats would try to pick up a couple of U.S. House seats here.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Democrats told me last night when I asked about this, hey, we want to enjoy Crawford's win and our lawyers will decide whether to pursue the redistricting issue before a court that will stay four to three liberal.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Thank you.