Tuesday’s decisive victory for the Democratic-backed candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race offered a warning for Republicans that Elon Musk’s unfavorability with voters may outweigh the millions he’s pledged to spend for Republicans in next year’s midterms.
Musk, the Tesla CEO who has become the face of the Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash government spending, went all-in on the Wisconsin Supreme court race, spending more than $20 million and holding a rally in the state backing the conservative candidate last weekend.
But his efforts to boost conservative Brad Schimel — which, combined with liberal donors, made Tuesday’s contest the most expensive judicial contest in US history – did not prevent Schimel’s 10-point defeat to liberal Susan Crawford. She won with a campaign focused heavily on Musk’s involvement in the race, even referring to Musk as her “opponent,” rather than Schimel, in campaign rallies.
Tuesday’s results in Wisconsin and Florida, where Republicans won two House special elections but under-performed Trump’s 2024 numbers by double-digits, have fueled GOP concerns about this year’s New Jersey and Virginia governor races and next year’s midterms, and whether Musk’s DOGE chainsaw has become a drag on Trump’s – and the Republican – brand.
“Musk was more of a motivator for the left than the right. At some point I felt bad for the candidate because his voice got smothered,” former Wisconsin GOP Rep. Reid Ribble told CNN, referring to Schimel.
Musk’s DOGE cuts are hardly the only reason Republicans are apprehensive about future races. Historically, the president’s party does poorly in the lower-turnout midterm – Democrats took back the House in Trump’s first term, for instance – and voters have already made clear they’re concerned that Trump’s tariffs risk harming the economy and driving up prices. Democrats have also in the Trump era become the party of high-propensity voters, turning out in off-year and special elections more than Republicans do.
But Musk’s high-profile role in Trump’s government – and his outsized presence in the Wisconsin race – have made him an obvious foil for Democrats, a cause they can rally around even as they remain divided on how their party should move forward.
“The Republicans are going to try to distance themselves now from Elon Musk. It’s not going to work. It’s too late. You’re attached at the hip, and you’re going to feel the consequences of it, just like you did in Wisconsin last night,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday.
Musk’s midterm moves
Despite the Wisconsin loss, Musk intends to remain engaged in next year’s midterm races to help Republicans retain their majority in the House and Senate, according to someone familiar with the Tesla CEO’s thinking.
Musk doesn’t plan to cede contests to Democrats in the future, and nothing that happened Tuesday is deterring the world’s richest man from his plans to invest in politics, the person said.
Musk always viewed the Wisconsin race as an uphill battle, but he decided to engage to force Democrats to spend more money than they otherwise would have – and in an attempt to energize Republicans, the source said.
As CNN and others have reported, Musk has previously committed to putting $100 million into political groups controlled by Trump. Musk spent nearly $300 million last year to help elect Trump and Republicans in Congress.
Investments by Musk and groups aligned with him in the Wisconsin race topped $20 million. He also thrust himself into the center of the contest — bounding on stage wearing a foam cheesehead hat at a rally Sunday in Green Bay to campaign on Schimel’s behalf and deliver $1 million checks to voters as part of an effort to drive turnout. Musk’s rally was in Brown County, a swing county that Trump won with 53% of the vote in November. Crawford flipped the county blue Tuesday night.
Musk was circumspect about Tuesday’s election result, suggesting there was a moral victory even after telling his supporters at Sunday’s rally that winning the election was “important for the future of civilization.”
“I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain,” Musk posted on X Wednesday.