Susan Crawford. PC: Fox 11 Online
MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Wisconsin’s newest Supreme Court justice was sworn in Friday during a public ceremony at the state capitol.
Justice Susan Crawford, 60, defeated conservative Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel in the April 1 election to earn her 10-year term on the state’s highest court. Theirs was the most expensive judicial race in history of the United States.
Crawford succeeds former Chief Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who retired Thursday after three decades on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
During her remarks at Friday’s ceremony, Crawford said it is “one of the greatest honors of my life” to serve on Wisconsin’s high court.
“From the beginning, this court has stepped up in the moments that matter most,” Crawford said. “The challenges we face now might be different, but the stakes are just as high. The questions that come before the court still shape and protect our democracy, our communities and the rights of everyone who calls Wisconsin home.”
I’m proud to take my seat on this court and I’m ready to meet this moment. And most of all, that means I’m ready to get to work for the people of our great state. On, Wisconsin!
Crawford’s win kept the court under a 4-3 liberal majority, as it has been since 2023. A liberal SCOWIS justice is not up for election again until April 2028, meaning liberals will either maintain or increase their hold on the court until then.
Crawford previously served as a Dane County circuit court judge. Before that, she worked as a civil litigator in private practice, as chief legal counsel for former Governor Jim Doyle and headed up the criminal appeals unit at the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
A native of Chippewa Falls, Crawford earned her undergraduate degree from Lawrence University in Appleton.
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