>> The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original
production. >> And to the people of
Wisconsin. Thank you. >> Voters made clear their
preference for the liberal candidates in the spring.
Statewide races as victories and concessions ensued. Not long
after the polls closed. [MUSIC]
on "Here& Now". Zac Schultz recaps the historic race for the
Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Democratic chair tells us how
they did it. Economic Secretary Missy Hughes, on the incoming
tariffs. And our political panelists give us their take on
all the election results. It's "Here& Now" for April 4th.
[MUSIC] >> Funding for "Here& Now" is
provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS
Wisconsin. >> The most expensive state
Supreme Court race in U.S. History results in a blowout win
for Susan Crawford. Unofficial results show the Liberal
candidate, Crawford, defeated Conservative Brad Schimel by ten
points and the 2.3 million total votes cast equals a 50% turnout
rate, both of which are records for a Supreme Court election in
Wisconsin. Here and now, senior political reporter Zach Schultz
was with Crawford on election night and has the story.
[MUSIC] >> All right, Wisconsin, we did
it. >> Susan Crawford's election
night event turned into a victory party a lot earlier in
the evening than anyone expecte, as the polls closed at 8:00,
supporters were preparing for a long night and were caught off
guard as national election observers started calling the
race for Crawford. Soon enough, retiring Supreme Court Justice
Ann Walsh Bradley came to the stage to announce Crawford had
won her seat on the court. >> Justice elect. The future of
the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Susan Crawford.
>> She took the stage with the rest of the liberals, showing
this election was not just about one seat, but securing a Liberal
majority on the court for at least the next three years.
>> Today, Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on
our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court.
And Wisconsin's stood up and said loudly that justice does
not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.
>> The numbers aren't going to aren't going to turn around.
They're too bad. And we're not going to pull this off.
>> In Pewaukee, Brad Schimel had planned for his band to play a
much longer set list, but had to cut it off early to tell his
supporters it was over. >> I've called Judge Crawford
and conceded, I don't. >> Know.
>> No no, no no, you got to accept the results.
>> In the closing weeks, the race had spiraled beyond the
typical Wisconsin Supreme Court election, with $100 million in
spending. The race became nationalized and Wisconsin
voters were being asked to elect a justice and deliver a
referendum on Donald Trump, all while Elon Musk wore a
cheesehead and handed out million dollar checks.
>> I never could have imagined that I'd be taking on the
richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin, and we wo.
>> Musk's spending certainly boosted conservative turnout,
but it also boosted liberal turnout.
with Brad Schimel and with him kind of being with Elon Musk and
the whole, you know, backed up by billionaires thing. I think I
think a lot of people were like, you know, Elon Musk doesn't
deserve to be in Wisconsin politics.
Liberal advocates are expected to push cases that would
overturn act ten and redraw the lines for Wisconsin's
congressional delegation. >> I look forward to working
with my colleagues on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to
deliver fair and impartial decisions.
ready to welcome her with open arms. Justice Rebecca Bradley is
the most outspoken of the conservative minority and up for
reelection next April. >> I think with Judge Crawford's
win, we're going to see a continued politicization of the
judiciary. And unfortunately, over the last couple of terms,
my four Liberal colleagues have ruled uniformly with the
Democratic Party, which is why you saw all this money come in.
>> Crawford will take the bench in August to start her ten year
term. >> Together, we will confront
and overcome the challenges we face as our state's motto says,
everybody forward. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Wisconsin. I am forever grateful.
>> Thank you. >> Reporting from Madison. I'm
Zach Schultz for "Here& Now". >> It seemed like the whole
world was watching Wisconsin and its Supreme Court election this
past Tuesday. How does the victory for Liberal Judge Susan
Crawford inform the political direction more broadly going
forward? We check in with chair of the Democratic Party of
Wisconsin, Ben Wikler, and thanks very much for being here.
>> Thanks for having me, Fredricka.
>> So were you expecting a ten point lead for Susan Crawford?
>> I was not. You know, the Republicans, Elon Musk, the
whole kind of right wing machine poured more money into this race
than we've ever seen in any judicial election in American
history. And it seemed hard to believe they didn't have a
theory behind it. As it turned out, they did drive up their
turnout. They won enough votes to defeat Janet Protasiewicz in
2023. They hit their target. It's just that the number of
votes for Susan Crawford was so much more. This was a
combination of an amazing candidate with a superb campaign
and full support from the party and all the different allied
groups. Also, Elon Musk personally inserting himself in
a way that I think incited more people to vote against Brad
Schimel than for Brad Schimel. And then on top of all that,
there's a rage in the electorate right now about what's happening
to this country, the sense that our our Constitution is being
ripped to shreds, that Social Security is under attack, things
that should be politically off limits are being torn to pieces
by Elon Musk, Donald Trump and the Republicans. And I think
that expressed itself in a margin of victory that not only
says something about this race and people's preference for the
integrity of Susan Crawford over what they saw in Brad Schimel,
but also the direction of politics in this whole national
moment. Green Bay, up on stage with a
cheesehead. What was going through your head?
>> Well, first of all, I though, that's not your cheesehead
buddy. Secondly, it felt to me like, Wisconsin can't fall for
this. Surely it can't fall for this. This is the richest man in
the world who is pulling money out of the pockets of people all
over our state. They just fired everyone involved in the low
income home heating program. These are programs that help
people stay warm in the winter in Wisconsin, that they're
cuts for people like Elon Musk. So that's happening with one
hand. The other hand is holding $1 million novelty check. It was
such a transparent attempt to buy our election and our
democracy in order to enrich the already ultra wealthy at the
expense of working people, that it felt like I hoped, with all
my being, that it would backfire. As it turned out, it
backfired big time. >> How do Democrats intend to
trade on the Trump agenda going forward?
>> Well, unfortunately, there's a huge amount to run against,
and Democrats can simply say what we're for. We believe in a
country that works for working people, not just for the ultra
wealthy. We believe every person should have basic freedoms and
dignity and respect, and that creates a gigantic contrast with
an administration that seems intent on torpedoing the entire
economy. And then, you know, carving out chunks of special
favors for the wealthy friends of the president as though he's
a mob boss, dividing up the spoils. This is a totally
catastrophic administration that seems to be intent on steering
us into a recession. And all the Republicans in Congress and in
the Senate, they seem to chicken about mean tweets from Trump and
Elon Musk, or maybe primary challenges to do anything about
it. So there's going to be a wave. You can already feel it
building. You could see the first cresting of that wave in
Wisconsin on Tuesday. But I think it's going to sweep this
whole country for these next two years and probably the next four
years, because they're so, so bad at this right now. And
Democrats actually believe in in making government work for
people. >> What kind of advice do you
have for Democrats nationally to replicate what happened in
Wisconsin this week? >> Well, first, what Susan
Crawford did, I think is really a model. She was crystal clear
at every stop. She would say, I never dreamed, as a little girl
growing up in Chippewa Falls, that I'd be up against the
richest man in the world. She made the case about her
integrity by telling her life story about growing up with a
sibling with special needs, who she took care of. A protective
instinct. Her work as a prosecutor and then working in
state government, then in private practice. Defending
Planned Parenthood, which drew a contrast on abortion, which is
still a very powerful issue in our state. I think a lot of
states. And then as a judge, how she treated everyone equally,
who walked into her courtroom, and then the contrast was
corruption. So it wasn't just that Brad Schimel was very far
right wing and supported the abortion ban. It was also the
corruption of giving special favors to his campaign
contributors and Elon Musk and Trump are sort of guaranteeing
that every Republican in Washington gets caught in that
swirl of corruption right now. The message about who's serving
the ultra rich and who's serving regular folks. That ties into a
question of character. And I think for Democrats being clear
about their character, about their values, about who they're
going to work for and fight for, and then drawing a clear
contrast with the other side, not wavering or backing down or
cowering. That actually is a model I think will work well.
People want to see candidates who are ready to fight for
things that most Americans believe in. And I think that's
what Democrats can offer. >> What is your comment on being
a part of the most expensive court race in U.S. History?
>> My comment is it is long past time for campaign finance
reform. This is preposterous. And I say that, you know, the
Democrats have outraised Republicans in our state party
for most of the last bunch of years. And I was saying that
even then, it's part of our state party platform. Very
clearly, if Democrats regain control, let's clean up our
politics. And if Republicans would like to actually join
Democrats to do that, let's get started together. But this idea
that the richest people in the world should blunder in hand out
million dollar checks and try to buy our democracy. It's an
affront to the idea of a country where the people are supposed to
rule, not the power of wealth. And we have a lot of work to do
to create a change. >> Ben Wikler, thanks very much.
>> Thanks so much. >> Despite being a contentious
race in its own right, the election for the next
superintendent of public schools had nearly 200,000 fewer votes
than the Supreme Court. Still, the Liberal candidate, Jill
Underly, had an almost six point lead over her opponent, Brittany
Kinser. >> It's a testament to our
shared commitment to ensuring that every child in Wisconsin
has access to a high quality education, regardless of their
ZIP code. And together, we've championed the belief that
public dollars should fund public schools. And tonight,
that belief has been reaffirmed. >> Who?
>> So over the past four years, we've made significant strides.
We've seen our graduation rates reach the highest in state
history. And our schools climb to be ranked sixth in the nation
by US News and World Report, up from 14th in 2020. We've
implemented higher standards in math and science, expanded
career and technical education, and passed a new bipartisan
literacy law to ensure our students are better prepared for
the future. But our work is far from over. We face challenges
ahead, including navigating the uncertainties brought by changes
at the federal level and with the Trump administration hell
bent on dismantling the US Department of Education, our
role in defending and advocating for public schools becomes even
more critical. >> We cannot settle for only
three out of ten of our children. I'm sorry, three out
of ten children reading well enough to go to college or have
a career. We cannot settle for only 5% of our Black children in
Milwaukee reading well enough to go to college. It is a reading
crisis, and I'm so glad that we were able to elevate this
reading crisis so that all of you who are listening to me now
will get in this fight for our children.
>> Last week, we shared a story about the Racine Unified School
District going into a crucial operational referendum on
Election day. That $190 million question passed, along with 51
school funding referenda across the state. There were 38 that
failed, 30 of those that passed were operational, preventing
massive cuts to programs and staff in those districts. More
than half that passed did so with razor thin margins. The
Trump tariffs hit this week. The across the board taxes on
imports into the U.S. Are combined with reciprocal
tariffs. Hiking the tax on countries with larger trade
imbalances, holding steady with the 25% tariffs on Canada and
Mexico on steel and aluminum, and on cars for other countries,
the 10% baseline tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S.
Will see higher reciprocal rates, like the 20% tariffs on
imports from the European Union. Governor Tony Evers and CEO of
the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Missy
Hughes, are just now on a trade mission to France and Germany.
Is this good timing or bad? We turn to Secretary Missy Hughes,
who's in France. And thanks very much for joining us. From there.
>> Yeah, good afternoon from France.
>> So, Secretary Hughes, what has been the reaction where you
are to these U.S. Tariffs? >> Well, we've really seen
generally a lot of disappointment from the French
officials and the German officials and the businesses
that we've been meeting with. It's a real surprise over what's
happened. You know, everyone has expressed to me, we have had
incredible long term friendships and really a lot of confusion
and misunderstanding or, you know, confusion about what's
happening and what the future holds.
>> So as to retaliatory tariffs being considered by other
countries, what will that mean for U.S. Exports, particularly
for Wisconsin? >> Well, for Wisconsin, we're
going to see challenges around, especially our industrial
machinery, our large pieces of machines and equipment that we
are building and exporting to countries like Germany for use
for food processing and the medical industry. So we're
really going to face real challenges for our businesses.
And we have businesses every day that like businesses we've
brought here to Germany that are exploring, exporting. And this
is really going to be a challenge for them as they seek
new markets. >> So your trade mission is to
promote exports, of course. And international investments in
especially. I understand, Wisconsin's biohealth sector for
its part. I understand that France is talking about
targeting U.S, the U.S. Tech sector. What do you say to your
counterparts in Europe in the face of this?
>> Well, first and foremost, you know, things are changing every
day. So before we even get into conversations about tariffs,
we're talking about our long term partnerships. We're talking
about how Wisconsin is here ready to continue these
relationships. But when we're talking about retaliatory
tariffs or the tariffs that the U.S. Is putting on these
countries, it's really concern about sending the economy into a
recession. And there's a fear that even if the tariffs are
alleviated, the chill chilling effect that this is going to
have on the economy and the potential recession is really
causing concerns for future investment.
>> So we are seeing the stock market sinking. Certainly
consumer confidence is unsteady. You speak about recession for
Wisconsin, for the U.S, for the globe.
>> Yeah. You know, I mean, if you if you think about the
impacts of the tariffs, a company that might be making an
investment, a company that might be hiring people is going to
stop and say, well, let's wait and see what happens. And that
has a domino effect. Then really creating a slowdown and really
creating a recession. I have companies that are talking to me
concerned about what the future holds. They have relied on open
trade between Mexico and Canada. They've created supply chains in
that way, and now they're really worried about what's going to be
the future and this unpredictability and instability
is really hard for businesses to plan around.
>> As to the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, what is the current
and potential future impact on Wisconsin?
foremost, we're going to see impacts on everyday
Wisconsinites pocketbooks. We're going to see increases in
grocery costs. We're going to see increases in gas and prices.
And that's really going to be having an effect right away.
Longer term we'll see companies really thinking about how do
they're jigger their supply chains. And can they do that
because they've relied on buying from Mexico or buying from
Canada and even sending parts back and forth across the
borders. And now they're going to have to make decisions about
how to continue to make that work, or to move into new or
more difficult types of business.
higher prices on just about everything?
>> It's hard to imagine that this isn't going to have an
impact through and through and through. Even a company I was
talking to that imports coffee is facing incredible tariffs.
And so we can expect you know, just at the beginning of our day
with coffee to have higher costs. And you know we might see
increased costs in health care because we'll see medical
devices and perhaps drugs costing more. So I think
everywhere we're going to see real challenges to what we
expect and how we pay our bills. >> What can someone like you in
your position do about any of this?
>> Well, first and foremost, we want to provide really good
information to our companies. As you've pointed out, the tariffs
are complex. Whether they're reciprocal or coming into the
country. We want to make sure they have the best information
explore ways to mitigate risks or ways to move their supply
chain around, we want to be there with the best information
to be able to supply them and help them react in the most
successful way. >> Secretary Missy Hughes,
so much. >> Thank you.
>> What a week. A barn burner of a state Supreme Court election,
followed up by head spinning Trump tariffs, all as the beat
goes on with Elon Musk and Doge within the administration. Here
to discuss our political analysts. Republican Bill
McCoshen and Democrat Scot Ross. And thanks for being here.
>> Thanks for having us. >> So, Scott, how big of a gift
was Elon Musk to Susan Crawford's campaign?
>> Well, I think he certainly didn't help things. But this was
about Trump, you know. And when Trump finally gets tired of Musk
and dumps him, the failure, the incompetence, the
authoritarianism, the rejection of the rule of law, the stealing
away of people's money in their retirement accounts, that's
this anger is going to going to continue. It's going to continue
into 2026. But again, I don't think that the I don't think
that Musk helped the cause. I mean, granted, he and E line and
you know Hendricks, they spent a fortune to try and win this
seat, but they didn't because Democrats, independents and even
some Republicans stood up and said, what's going on with the
Trump administration does not work for Wisconsin.
>> Bill, do you think that the entry of Musk and Donald Trump
into Brad Schimel campaign was a good idea?
>> Part of it. But I want to pick up on something, Scott
said. First, Democrats were motivated. They were angry. They
were pretty beaten down in November when Trump won. I don't
think they ever thought that was possible. It was possible. Trump
not only won here, but he got the most votes in history in the
state of Wisconsin. So Democrats here did all they could to make
sure that their base turned out. Turnout was very high. It was it
was gubernatorial levels. 2.4 million people, which in a
spring election is unheard of. I thought the higher turnout
actually would help. Brad Schimel it helped Democrats more
on the Musks thing. I think without his money, Schimel would
have lost by worse. I think it might have been 14 or 15 points.
I think where there were where Musk's team crossed the line was
on giving away checks that didn't sit well with Wisconsin
voters, and it super fired up Democrats at the end. I was at
the Musk event in green Bay. There were probably 400
protesters outside that event in sleeting rain. And it was they
were fired up. >> Yeah, I mean, those people
better cash those checks quick, you know, because they most
likely won't be able to be cashed. But, you know, the thing
about it is, if you look at the numbers, literally every single
of the 72 counties in Wisconsin went more Democratic, went more
left than they did in November 24th. And this was not a special
election. This was a regularly scheduled election. We had
turnout that was higher than 38, 38 states. Off year turnout last
time. Like it was a it was a pasting. It was so, so much of a
pasting that like I don't know Derrick Van Orden wasn't drunk
yet and Chuck Schumer was still awake.
Republican turnout was up. It just wasn't up as much as
Democrats. independents were there with
with the Democrats on this one. >> Do you think that follows
through? >> Absolutely. Because it's not
going to get any better. We just saw with what's going on in
three, $30 trillion of wealth being shot out the window with
the Trump tariff tax tax going, it's not going to get any worse.
People are looking at their retirement accounts now, you
know, if you're Bill's age, you can put $8,000 in your IRA.
Other people, it's 7000. And people are seeing years and
years of the money they invested in their IRA wiped out like
that. >> Spring elections don't
correlate to what happens in the fall. Give you the example.
Janet Protasiewicz won by ten points, which is exactly what
Susan Crawford won in 2023, in the spring. Donald Trump came
back and won in 2024. >> There's that.
>> Yeah, but this is an off year election in 20 in 2026. And
Democrats are going to be motivated and independents are
what's going on with the economy and how badly things are going.
>> I want to bring this to you, Bill. Wisconsin conservative
Rick Esenberg said this quote, I'm not surprised that populist
voters didn't care about having a conservative court. They
aren't conservative. They are, rightly or wrongly, resentful
and alienated. What it takes to attract the populist vote limits
the conservative vote. How do you navigate this?
>> Well, we got some soul searching to do on our side,
whether it's the state party or the ally groups, and there are
many that have been helping Republican candidates.
Everything we did wasn't enough. And it wasn't enough by a lot.
When you lose by ten points, it's not just one thing. It's
multiple things. So I think the party's got to do some soul
searching on where we go from here to Esenberg Point. He's
right. There are low propensity voters that do turn out for
Donald Trump, but they also turn out for Donald Trump's agenda. I
think where Republicans came up short, particularly in the
Supreme Court race, is Brad Schimel wasn't clear enough
about what his agenda was, what he what he stood for. And the
Marquette poll in March told us 80% of Wisconsin voters actually
want to know what judicial candidates position is on
issues, which I find sort of appalling, but that's where the
public is. They want to know where you stand. These are no
longer nonpartisan races. They're very partizan.
>> A sea. >> This isn't this race was not
about some fracture between two parts of the Republican Trump
Party. This was about Democrats, independents, and even some
Republicans going out and saying, we reject what Donald
Trump's doing. They have taken over government. There needs to
be a check on them. That check needs to be Susan Crawford, and
it's not going to get any easier for the Republicans. And if you
think about, like, what the next race is, you know, April 2026,
Rebecca Bradley, the best chance that Republicans have is if she
gets a federal judgeship and Toni Evers Governor Evers gets
to appoint a successor because she is so toxic, she is more
toxic than even Brad Schimel or Dan Kelly.
>> Do you want to respond to that?
and that's the kind of candidate we need a we need a female
candidate. B we need somebody who's tough as nails that's
willing to fight for the job. >> So with about a minute and a
half left, how seismic was Crawford's win? Given what's
about to come before the court? >> Well, it preserves a Liberal
majority for three more years. Republicans or conservatives
cannot get the majority again until the spring. Actually, the
summer of 2028. So what will be will be now for three years
minimum. And that includes school choice. It includes act
ten. It includes a variety of voter ID, thankfully is no
longer under consideration because the voters
overwhelmingly passed that. But there are a lot of things that
will come before the court. And if you're a business owner here
in the state of Wisconsin, buckle up. Could get rough.
>> Listen, there have been freedoms under assault in
Wisconsin for the 15 years that Republicans controlled the
Supreme Court. Now that we have, you know, serious justices in
there who will look at the law and not interpret the law, I
think we're going to have a lot more a lot more cases coming
before the court in a way that's going to preserve freedom here
in the state of Wisconsin and restore some of the freedoms
that have been taken away. >> We leave it there. Scot Ross
Bill McCoshen, thank you. For more on this and other issues
facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS Wisconsin. Org
and then click on the news tab. That's our program for tonight.
I'm Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.
[MUSIC] >> Funding for "Here& Now" is
provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS
Wisconsin.