Trump and Musk suffer a blow as a liberal wins the Wisconsin Supreme Court election

President Donald Trump and his billionaire buddy Elon Musk suffered a blow when voters in Wisconsin chose Susan Crawford to serve on the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, upholding the court’s liberal 4-3 majority. Trump had supported her conservative opponent.

With almost $90 million spent by candidates, state parties, and outside organizations, the election was generally viewed as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency. According to the Brennan Center at New York University, the campaign easily became the most costly judicial fight in U.S. history.

In a phone call to Crawford and in an address to his supporters, conservative Brad Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general and county judge, conceded loss to Crawford. With 88% of the vote counted and a margin of about 191,000 ballots, Crawford was ahead by 9 points.

In light of the court’s balance, Musk and his affiliated political organizations invested over $21 million to back Schimel. Crawford presented the race as one between her and the billionaire from out of state.

As a young kid growing up in Chippewa Falls, I must admit that I never would have thought that I would be fighting the wealthiest man on the planet for justice and Wisconsin. We also prevailed. Crawford spoke to supporters during a rally in the state capital, Madison.

Trump opted to celebrate the success of a different Wisconsin ballot issue that required higher levels of voter identification rather than commenting on the Supreme Court election in a social media post.

The Wisconsin outcome, according to national Democrats, was a step in the right direction toward a 2026 House of Representatives comeback.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin stated, “The people of Wisconsin squarely rejected the influence of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and billionaire special interests tonight.”

Voters in Wisconsin seemed to understand that the election will have wide-ranging effects.

“It is more important to support regular people than those who were supporting Elon Musk or the multibillionaires,” Crawford voter West Roberts, 26, said in Madison just before polls closed on Tuesday night.

Gary Christenson, a retiree in Genesee, promised to vote for Schimel. “If a liberal gets in there, they’re going to continue to try to destroy Trump’s efforts to downsize the government,” he added.

The Florida Republicans triumph

Two Republicans from Florida won special elections to fill U.S. House seats left empty by Trump’s cabinet nominees, which was another indication of how popular he is.

Republicans now hold a 220–213 House majority as a result of the victory.

The parties were keeping an eye on the Democrats’ potential closeness because it had been anticipated that Republicans would comfortably win both seats.

Public school teacher Josh Weil, a Democrat, lost to Republican state senator Randy Fine in one district that includes Daytona Beach. Following Michael Waltz’s 33-point victory in November to become Trump’s National Security Advisor, Fine was up about 14 points.

Gun violence prevention activist Gay Valimont, a Democrat, lost to Republican state chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis in the other race near Pensacola. Following Valimont’s 32-point loss to Matt Gaetz, Trump’s former attorney general nominee, in November, Patronis was up over 15 points.

State of the Battleground

As the state is predicted to be a major battlefield for the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential contest, Wisconsin’s highest court is expected to render important decisions on voting rights and election laws. Wisconsin was the state that Trump won by the narrowest margin of any state in November, by less than a percentage point.

Along with deciding whether abortion rights should be allowed throughout the state, the court may also reexamine a statute supported by Republicans that denied collective bargaining rights to the majority of public employee unions.

Musk became a key player in the contest, with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency managing Trump’s historic federal cost-cutting initiative. His primary super PAC, or political action group, distributed $1 million checks to two people during an event he hosted on Sunday night.

Tesla (TSLA.O) launches a new tab In addition to spending over $250 million to assist Trump win the election in November, the CEO pledged to provide volunteers $20 for each voter they registered ahead of time. On Tuesday, he gave voters $100 if they uploaded a photograph of someone holding a Schimel portrait and giving the thumbs up.

Since the court may make a decision about redistricting, or the redrawing of political maps, Musk had stated that “the future of Western civilization” is at stake. Redistricting could undermine Trump’s ability to rule by shifting the balance of power in the sharply divided U.S. House of Representatives between Republicans and Democrats.

Billionaire Democratic megadonors like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and philanthropist George Soros have boosted Crawford’s campaign.