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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 panelists
Republican Bill
McCation and
Democrat Scott Ross
And thanks for being here.
Thanks for having us.
So Scott,
How big of a gift
Does 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
And their retirement
Accounts.
That's going to still be
There.
This anger is 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
Lined.
And, you know,
Hendrix, they spent
A fortune to try and win
This seat.
But they didn't because
Democrats, independents,
And even some Republicans
Still 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 Schimmel's
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 gubernatorial levels.
2.4 million people, which
In the spring elections
Unheard of.
I thought the higher
Turnout actually would
Help Brad Schimmel.
It helped Democrats more.
On the Musk's thing,
I think without his money
Schimmel would have lost
By worse.
I think it might have
Been 14 or 15 points.
I think it might have been
14 or 15 points.
I think it might have
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 the leading 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 cash.
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 24.
And this was not a special
Election.
This was a regularly scheduled
Election.
We had turnout that was higher
Than 38 states off your
Turnout last time.
Like it was a pasting.
It was so much of a pasting
That it was so much of a
Pasting.
It was so much of a pasting
That it was so much of a
Pasting.
It was so much of a pasting
That it was so much of a
Pasting.
It was so much of a pasting
That it was so much of a
Pasting that like, I don't
Know, Derek Van Orton wasn't
Drunk yet and Chuck Schumer was
Still awake.
Both turnouts were up.
Republican turnout was up.
It just wasn't up as much as
Democrat turnout.
I mean, it depends.
We're there 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 30 trillion dollars of
Wealth being, you know,
Shot out the window with the
Trump tariff tax tax going.
It's not going to be any
Horse.
People are looking at their
Retirement accounts.
Now, you know, if your bill's
Age, you can put $8,000 in your
IRA.
Other people at $7,000.
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 Pro to say it's one 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 one of the
Elections.
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 2026 and
Democrats are going to be
Motivated and independents are
Going to be angry because of
What's going on with the
Economy and how badly things
Are going.
I want to bring this to you,
Bill.
Wisconsin Conservative Rick
Essenberg said this.
Quote, I'm not surprised that
Populous voters didn't care
About having a conservative
Court.
They aren't conservative.
They have a lot of
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 social 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 10 points, it's not just one thing,
it's multiple things.
So I think the party's got to do some social searching
on where we go from here.
To Essenberg's 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 Schimmel wasn't clear enough about what his agenda was,
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 partisan.
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 what's the next race is,
April 2026, Rebecca Bradley, the best chance
that Republicans have is if she gets a federal judgeship
and Tony Evers, Governor Evers, gets to appoint a successor
because she is so toxic.
She is more toxic than even Brad Schimmel or Dan Kelly.
You want to respond to that?
I think she's tough as nails.
And that's the kind of candidate we need.
A, we need a female candidate.
B, we need somebody who stuff 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 10.
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 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 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, Scott Ross, Bill McCauson.
Thank you.
For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin,
visit our website at pbswisconsin.org
and then click on the News tab.
That's our program for tonight.
I'm Frederica Freiber.
Have a good weekend.