Morning Digest: Victory in Wisconsin Supreme Court race tops strong night for Democrats

Across the country, the party racked up key wins and big overperformances

The victorious Democratic-backed candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Justice-elect Susan Crawford (credit: Susan Crawford campaign Facebook)

Leading Off

Election Night

Liberals won a major victory to preserve their hard-won majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday night, while Democrats across the country turned in strong performances in a range of races.

In the marquee event, progressive Judge Susan Crawford easily defeated former Republican state Attorney General Brad Schimel 55-45 despite a $25 million onslaught from the world's richest man, Elon Musk. Even though Crawford and her allies ran a barrage of ads attacking Musk's heavy-handed intervention, Schimel's supporters claimed to be unworried that his involvement might backfire, a stance they may be rethinking now.

Thanks to Crawford's win, liberals will keep their 4-3 edge on the state's highest court for at least the next three years. They'll even have the chance to expand it before long, since conservatives must defend seats in both 2026 and 2027.

Wisconsin Democrats also prevailed in the race for superintendent of public instruction, which saw incumbent Jill Underly defeat her Republican-backed opponent, Brittany Kinser, 53-47. And in GOP-leaning Winnebago County, Democrat Gordon Hintz unseated Republican Jon Doemel 53-47 as county executive.

The lone bright spot for Republicans was a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to include Wisconsin's existing voter ID law, which voters approved 63-37. The amendment failed, however, to juice turnout on behalf of Schimel.

In northern Florida, meanwhile, Republicans held two deep-red House seats in a pair of special elections, but Democrats dramatically outperformed in both races.

In the Daytona Beach-area 6th District, GOP state Sen. Randy Fine beat his Democratic opponent, public school math teacher Josh Weil, 57-43. The seat was previously represented by Donald Trump's beleaguered national security advisor, Mike Waltz.

Weil outraised Fine by an extreme margin, and Republicans began sweating the race after polls suggested it might be close, going so far as to preemptively blame Fine before any votes were counted. In the end, the district's strong conservative tilt was enough to save Fine, but his win was 16 points closer than Trump's 65-35 margin last year.

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There was less drama in the Pensacola-based 1st District, an even redder seat that was vacated by Matt Gaetz last year amid his failed nomination to serve as Trump's attorney general. There, Republican Jimmy Patronis, the state's chief financial officer, defeated Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun safety activist, 57-42. But like Fine, Patronis ran well behind Trump, who carried the 1st 68-31 in 2024—an even steeper dropoff of 22 points.

Democrats also got welcome news in the race to run Omaha, where Democrat John Ewing advanced in Tuesday's top two primary and will face Republican Mayor Jean Stothert in the May 13 general election. A victory for Ewing would give his party control of Nebraska's largest city for the first time in more than a decade.

Stothert, whose 2013 victory began the GOP's current winning streak, led Tuesday's officially nonpartisan primary with 37% of the vote. Ewing, who serves as Douglas County treasurer, avoided a Democratic lockout by winning the crucial second spot 32-20 over former state Sen. Mike McDonnell, a Democrat turned Republican. Ewing would be the first Black person to be elected mayor, while a victory for Stothert would give her a record fourth term.

Finally, Illinois Democrat John Laesch ousted Republican Richard Irvin 52-48 as mayor of Aurora, the state's second-largest city. Irvin had been a one-time rising star before finishing third in the GOP primary for governor in 2022, while Laesch rose to become a member of the city council after unsuccessfully challenging Irvin four years ago.

1Q Fundraising

The first fundraising quarter of the year, covering the period from Jan. 1 through March 31, has come to an end, meaning federal candidates will have to file campaign finance reports with the FEC by April 15. But as per usual, campaigns with strong hauls are releasing numbers early, which we've gathered below. (Note that candidates for state and local office often file disclosures on different timetables.)

• CA-49: Jim Desmond (R): $415,000 raised

• MI-11: Haley Stevens (D-inc): $1.1 million raised (considering Senate bid)

• NJ-07: Rebecca Bennett (D): $425,000 raised (in two months)

• NY-17: Beth Davidson (D): $500,000 raised (in six weeks)

• TX-23: Tony Gonzales (R-inc): $1 million raised, $2.4 million cash on hand

• VA-07: Eugene Vindman (D-inc): $2 million raised, $1.2 million cash on hand

Senate

NC-Sen

Far-right conspiracy theorist Michele Morrow tells Anderson Alerts that she's interested in challenging Sen. Thom Tillis in next year's Republican primary, and journalist Bryan Anderson writes that her "final decision could come soon."

Morrow, who was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, attracted national attention last year when she defeated incumbent Catherine Truitt in the primary for superintendent of public instruction, giving North Carolina Republicans good reason to fear she'd cost them control of the office.

Morrow had previously denounced public schools as "indoctrination centers," called for Donald Trump to use the military to remain in power, and made a "joke" about executing Barack Obama. She showed no interest in appeasing skeptics during the general election and instead engaged in homophobic rhetoric. Democrat Mo Green went on to narrowly beat Morrow 51-49 despite the fact that Trump carried the state 51-48.

Tillis already faces primary opposition from businessman Andy Nilsson, a self-described "unapologetically MAGA" Republican who launched his campaign in January. Nilsson, however, has a very different history than Morrow: He responded to his lopsided defeat in the 2000 primary for lieutenant governor by trying to jumpstart a new "centrist" party, and in 2019, he decried Trump as someone who "violates duties of office with callous indifference."

SC-Sen

Donald Trump surprised almost no one last week when he endorsed South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a one-time presidential primary rival who long ago morphed into a MAGA lackey. The senator's many intraparty critics remain loudly opposed to him, but there's no indication that GOP voters are willing to do what Graham wanted them to do to Trump in 2015 and tell him to "go to hell."

Far-right businessman Mark Lynch, though, still hopes that enough of the base is disgusted with Graham to give him an opening in next year's primary. Lynch, who said in February that he plans to put in at least $4 million of his own money into his campaign, put out a statement Tuesday blasting Graham's proposed 15-week national abortion ban for not going nearly far enough.

Governors

MN-Gov

Conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell is once again flirting with running for governor of Minnesota, but we'll believe it when we see it.

Lindell showed some interest in seeking the governorship in 2017, a more innocent time when he was still mostly known for his pillows, but he didn't go for it. Four years later, Lindell, who by now had become one of the most infamous proponents of the Big Lie, declared that he was "90 to 95%" likely to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, but his decision not to run proved that his products weren't the only thing full of fluff.

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OH-Gov

State House Minority Leader Allison Russo told a Democratic gathering on Monday that she was interested in running for lieutenant governor if former Sen. Sherrod Brown seeks the governorship, though she didn't reject competing for the top job herself.

"I haven't excluded potentially some candidacy at the statewide level," Russo told the audience, according to The Blade. "At this point, I'm looking at all options and haven't ruled out anything."

House

AZ-05

A Republican strategist speaking for former NFL kicker Jay Feely has confirmed to the Arizona Republic that he's "seriously considering" running for the open 5th District and will decide in the next three months. No prominent candidates have launched bids for this conservative constituency in the Phoenix suburbs, though former state Rep. Travis Grantham filed a statement of interest with the state in January.

NV-03

Conservative columnist Drew Johnson says he's not ruling out a rematch against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee, who beat him 51-49 last year after national Republicans gave up on his race. Johnson tells the Nevada Independent's Gabby Birenbaum that another campaign for the swingy 3rd District "remains a possibility," though he said he was also mulling over other ideas.

The campaign of video game composer Marty O'Donnell, meanwhile, informs Birenbaum that the candidate has self-funded $1 million for his second campaign for the GOP nod. O'Donnell, who took fourth place against Johnson in the primary, kicked off his second try on Monday, though he pledged not to file next year if Donald Trump doesn't endorse him.

NY-04

Donald Trump unexpectedly announced Monday evening that he was nominating former Rep. Anthony D'Esposito to serve as inspector general for the Labor Department, a move that probably means that he won't wage a third campaign against Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen after all.

We say "probably" because D'Esposito must be confirmed by the Senate, and the upper chamber may have some uncomfortable questions about last year's New York Times story reporting that he gave a part-time job in his congressional office to a woman he was having an affair with. Gillen, who had lost to D'Esposito in 2022, went on to beat him 51-49 in November, and her team was reminding reporters about the scandal last week back when it looked like he'd run again.

There are, however, plenty of other Nassau County Republicans who could step forward. Inside Elections' Jacob Rubashkin mentions Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin and state Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick as possible candidates. Clavin won his post in 2019 by narrowly unseating Gillen, whose victory two years earlier made her the first Democrat to lead Hempstead in over a century.