As Susan Crawford was declared the Wisconsin Supreme Court justice-elect, Democrats found something that has been lost for a while: Optimism.
Things have been dreary for Team Blue since November. With Kamala Harris losing the election, Donald Trump returning, and the latter jamming through his agenda by any means necessary, Democrats have had nothing to celebrate. In fact, with leaders like Chuck Schumer taking heavy criticism for helping Trump’s spending bill to pass, the party has been the target of ire from its own supporters. Not only had they lost all three branches of government, but they have been perceived as not doing enough as a party to mount a credible opposition.
Tuesday, April 1 was the first good political day the party has had in 2025.
Cory Booker Breaks Filibuster Record
The day began, literally, with New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker standing at a Senate lectern. He had been there since the evening of March 31. Booker would not leave it until around 8pm Eastern on April 1, after the Florida polls had closed. He broke a filibuster record held by Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, which was designed to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The purpose of Booker’s speech was to chastise the Trump Administration in defense of democracy, and Elon Musk’s “DOGE” for its cuts.
Booker’s 25-hour speech was seen as a rallying point for Democrats, as the party faced criticism for being leaderless and lacking in direction. Whether or not it meets the technical definition of a filibuster is immaterial: Democrats employed some political theater, and it worked for them. It generated several million views on YouTube as well as tens of millions of likes on TikTok.
Wisconsin: Susan Crawford Elected to Supreme Court
Wisconsin’s spring judicial races have, in recent years, gotten more and more attention. Perhaps no Supreme Court race in the Badger State had gotten the attention of this one, which became the most expensive judicial race in American history. When you have Elon Musk dumping tens of millions of dollars into the race and personally appearing in the state at the close of the campaign, people are going to notice.
Even though the two did not appear together, there was no question that Musk supported conservative candidate Brad Schimel. He spent big on Schimel’s behalf and offered dire prophecies for civilization if the conservative lost.
However, Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate and a Dane County judge, had money to spend of her own. Her message carried the day, and she won the election by a margin of about 55 to 45 percent (Decision Desk HQ).
Crawford’s 10-point win is a little less than the 11 points by which liberal Janet Protasiewicz won in 2023, but still a thumping victory. Crawford ran up big margins in Milwaukee and Dane Counties, the latter of which is home to Madison. She also carried both Kenosha and Racine Counties, Brown County (Green Bay), and bellwether Door County. There was a swing towards Crawford from the 2024 presidential election numbers in every county in the state.
Florida: Republicans Hold Two Seats, But Heavy Dem Swings
The 1st and 6th Districts of Florida will again be represented by Republicans. (New York Times) It has been decades since the last time that was not the case.
1st District
In the Panhandle’s Florida-01, state CFO Jimmy Patronis was elected. He received 57 percent of the vote while Democratic candidate Gay Valimont got 42 percent. However, when Valimont was the Democratic nominee here in November 2024, she received just 34 percent while incumbent Matt Gaetz took in 66 percent. Large swing to the Democrats aside, Valimont flipped Escambia County, the home of Pensacola, blue for the first time in a US House race since 1992.
57 percent was the lowest GOP vote share in this district since 1992, when it was represented by Earl Hutto, a Democrat who voted to the right of his party. This was also the first time a Democrat has exceeded 40 percent in this district since then.
6th District
On the East Coast of Florida is the 6th District, and Randy Fine, a state senator, won the election over Democrat Josh Weil.
Fine won by 14 points, 56.7 to 42.7 percent. He carried every county in the district, though Volusia, home to Daytona Beach, was a close call. Fine won Volusia by a two-point margin.
Since this district shifted east, Democratic candidates have only held GOP candidates under 60 percent a handful of times. Weil’s performance was the best for a Democrat here since 2018, when Nancy Soderberg took 43.7 percent against Mike Waltz, who had run to succeed Ron DeSantis. Waltz won here with 66.5 percent of the vote in November 2024, at the same time as Donald Trump won with 64 percent.
Building Off the Susan Crawford Win, et al.?
The Democrats have infused some much-needed political capital, even if just a small amount. What they do with it is up to them. There are probably many Democratic voters wondering if the party will take advantage at all. It would be hard to blame them, given how difficult the past six months have been in general.
One thing is clear: We know why Elise Stefanik’s ambassadorship nomination was pulled. NY-21 is less red than either one of the Florida seats, and GOP margins were more than halved in both. A more competitive GOP vacant seat might have fallen on Tuesday. What the Democrats got out of Florida might not amount to more than moral victories, but they will come out of them also feeling like if they can replicate double-digit House district swings elsewhere, then they are in good shape for 2026. Lower special election turnout issues aside, these are concerning numbers for the GOP.
It would also be difficult to argue that the Wisconsin race was of local interest only. Of course the race was nationalized: Elon Musk made it his personal project, and various outside groups flooded the state with tens of millions of dollars. It was a national proxy war between the two major parties. This time, the Democrats won the battle.
