A look at election results from April 1

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Thursday, April 3, Brew. 

By: Lara Bonatesta

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. A look at election results from April 1
  2. Trump ends March with 47% approval, 51% disapproval

A look at election results from April 1

While 2025 is considered an off-year, several important elections are taking place—and some of the most closely watched races occurred on Tuesday, April 1.

Here are the latest results from those races in Wisconsin and Florida.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel in the nonpartisan general election for a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. As of 3 p.m. on April 2, the margin was 55.0%-45.0%.

Although Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, candidates often take stances on specific issues and receive backing from the state’s major political parties during their campaigns. Wisconsin’s Democratic Party endorsed Crawford. Schimel is the state’s former Republican attorney general. 

With Crawford’s win, liberals are expected to retain a 4-3 majority until at least 2028. Liberals won a majority in 2023 for the first time in 15 years.

According to WisPolitics, the candidates and satellite groups spent more than $107 million on the race as of April 1, making this the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Click here to learn more about satellite spending in this race. 

According to reports filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on March 24:

  • Crawford raised $21.8 million and spent $21.4 million
  • Schimel has raised $10 million and spent $9.5 million

In the March 27 episode of On The Ballot, The Center Square’s Dan McCaleb said that the outcome race would have “big implications for Wisconsin voters and Wisconsin taxpayers, but there’s potential for some national implications too.” McCaleb listed the state’s congressional maps, abortion, voter ID, and former Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) Act 10, which limited the collective bargaining rights of public employees in the state among the issues that could appear before the court. Click here to learn more about the notable cases that have or may appear before the court. 

In the Feb. 12 episode of On the Ballot, Wisconsin Public Radio’s state capitol reporter Anya van Wagtendonk said, “We have a Democratic governor and a Republican-held Legislature, and it’s been that way for quite a while, and so increasingly important issues are just not getting decided by the Legislature, and then they end up getting kicked to the court. … So they’re increasingly just an important arm of political decision-making.”

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction 

Incumbent Jill Underly defeated Brittany Kinser and Adrianne Melby (Write-in) in the nonpartisan general election for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction.

  • The superintendent oversees and coordinates the state’s elementary and secondary schools and leads the state’s Department of Public Instruction.
  • Although the superintendent position is officially nonpartisan, the state’s Democratic Party endorsed Underly, and the Republican Party endorsed Kinser.

Question 1 

Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment to require photo identification to cast a ballot. The measure authorizes the Legislature to establish acceptable forms of photo ID and exceptions to the requirement.

  • While Wisconsin state law has required voters to show photo ID since 2011, this measure adds the requirement to the state’s constitution. According to Votebeat Wisconsin, the measure doesn’t change the state’s current law and allows for future modifications.
  • Adding the requirement to the state constitution will likely prevent state courts from invalidating the law based on other provisions in the state constitution.

Florida

U.S. House

Republicans won the races for two vacant U.S. House seats in Florida, expanding Republicans’ majority from 218-213 to 220-213, with two seats still vacant. 

These races fill the vacancies created when former Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-1) and Michael Waltz (R-6) resigned after President Donald Trump nominated them for positions in his administration. Gaetz later withdrew himself from consideration for Attorney General. Waltz is the National Security Adviser.

There were seven special elections for U.S. House in the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency. In those:

  • No seats changed party hands.
  • Democrats outperformed their 2020 general election margins of victory in two districts. Democrats underperformed their 2020 margins in one district.
  • Republicans outperformed their 2020 general election margins in one district. Republicans underperformed their 2020 margins in two districts.

There were six special elections for U.S. House in the first year of Trump’s first term. No seats changed party hands, and neither party outperformed their 2016 margin in any district.

There are two remaining vacancies in the U.S. House.

State Legislature

Florida also held primaries for three state legislative seats – two in the House and one in the Senate. All three Republican primaries were contested. All three Democratic primaries were canceled after only one candidate ran in each district. The general elections for all three seats are June 10.

State Senate District 19

  • Debbie Mayfield (R) defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary.
  • Mayfield and Vance Ahrens (D) will advance to the general election. The winner of that race will fill the vacancy created when Fine resigned to run for Florida’s 6th Congressional District.

House District 3

  • Nathan Boyles (R) defeated seven other candidates in the Republican primary.
  • Boyles and Dondre Markell Wise (D) will advance to the general election. The winner of that race will fill the vacancy created after Joel Rudman (R) resigned to run for Florida’s 1st Congressional District. 

House District 32

  • Brian Hodgers (R) defeated Bob White (R) and Terrence Cronin (R) in the Republican primary. 
  • Hodgers and Juan Hinojosa (D) will advance to the general election. The winner of that race will replace Debbie Mayfield (R). Mayfield announced her resignation, effective June 9, to run in a special election for Florida State Senate District 19. 

Wisconsin and Florida are two of 26 states where Ballotpedia has expanded our local election coverage to include all local elections, not just those in the top 100 cities by population, state capitals, and the top 200 largest school districts by enrollment.

Ballotpedia also covered elections in seven other states on April 1. Click here for the results of those races. 

Trump ends March with 47% approval, 51% disapproval

At the end of March, polling averages showed President Donald Trump (R) with a 47% approval rating. Fifty-one percent of voters disapproved of his performance. This is the lowest approval rating he’s received during his presidency to date. Trump’s highest approval rating was 54% on Jan. 22.

Congressional approval is at 26% and disapproval is at 52%. The 119th Congress’ lowest approval rating was 19% on Jan. 29. Its highest approval rating was 32% on March 20.

At this point in Trump’s first term, his approval rating was 42%, and congressional approval was 18%. At this point in Joe Biden’s (D) term, Biden’s approval rating was 52%, and congressional approval was 24%. Click here to see our comparison of opinion polling during the Trump and Biden administrations.

Ballotpedia’s polling index calculates presidential and congressional approval ratings by averaging polls conducted over the last 30 days. We average the results and show all polling results side-by-side because we believe that paints a clearer picture of public opinion than any individual poll can provide. The data is updated daily as new polling results are published.

Click on the provided links to see our polling index for presidential approval ratings and our polling index for congressional approval ratings.