PEWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) — The conservative-backed loser of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election promptly conceded the race as it was called, angering his own supporters, who yelled for him to stay in the fight.
The concession wouldn’t normally be considered remarkable. But it is now, as American politics has become divided between those who trust election results and those who don’t.
With his concession, Brad Schimel curtailed the kind of explanation-seeking and digital digging that led to widespread mistrust of election results after the 2020 election.
Schimel also avoided the impulses of those in his own party who’ve struggled to accept their own defeats. Schimel says, “You’ve got to accept the results.”