Despite Musk’s repeated warnings that “Western Civilization” would be jeopardized if the conservative candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race lost, the Tesla CEO and senior adviser to President Donald Trump downplayed Tuesday’s major election defeat, writing in an overnight post that he “expected to lose.”
The businessman, who has dominated headlines since joining Trump’s government as the aggressive director of the Department of Government Efficiency, was fully committed to the race.
His political parties spent more than $20 million to help conservative candidate Brad Schimel win the election, filling the airwaves with television commercials and saturated Google and Facebook with digital ads. He sent out a ground crew around the state to turn out voters, and he personally handed out two $1 million cheques at a rally when he stood on stage wearing a cheesehead hat.
Schimel lost by a possible double-digit margin, dealing the world’s richest man a severe electoral loss and raising doubts about how ready Republicans will be to support Musk’s involvement in future contests, including the midterms.
Despite Tuesday’s outcome, Musk seems undaunted in his political goals. According to those familiar with his organization, he still intends to play a significant role in ensuring that Republicans keep control of the House in future elections, including the 2026 midterms.
According to sources, Musk and his staff knew the Wisconsin campaign would be a difficult challenge. According to sources familiar with the campaign, part of the calculation was that Democrats in Wisconsin would almost certainly make Musk the target of their assaults, so it was preferable to address them directly and make the point to voters than to allow those attacks to go unanswered.
Musk’s political team had noticed danger flags in the closing stretch. According to a report acquired by ABC News, Schimel was trailing leftist challenger Susan Crawford by double digits earlier in the election, but his numbers rebounded following a surge of negative advertising. But in the days leading up to Tuesday, Musk’s team watched Schimel’s numbers plummet, prompting the billionaire to launch a PR blitz that included numerous livestream events and an interview with Fox News.
Democrats are now moving rapidly to capitalize on Crawford’s victory and depict Musk as a liability to Trump and the Republican Party.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed Schimel’s defeat was a referendum on Musk.
Wisconsin voters delivered a clear message to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE by rejecting an extreme Republican for the Supreme Court: “Our democracy is not for sale,” Schumer wrote on X.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a millionaire who gave more than $1 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin prior to the election, wrote on X late Tuesday night, “Elon Musk is not good at this.”
Patrick Guarasci, a Wisconsin-based political operator and top strategist for Susan Crawford’s campaign, agreed. He stated that one of the main lessons for Democrats around the country is the significance of opposing Musk’s political initiatives head on.
“We didn’t back down from a battle when Elon Musk entered the competition. We weren’t seeking for a battle, but we didn’t back down from it. And I believe that’s one of the lessons learnt,” Guarasci told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday.
Still, Musk fans point out that the billionaire had a key role in Trump’s 2024 presidential victory, notably in Pennsylvania, where he used similar techniques.
“[Musk] went to Pennsylvania and spent a month and a half campaigning for me… and he’s a popular guy,” Trump remarked at a rally following his election victory. “He understands those computers better than anyone. All those computers, those vote-counting systems, and we ended up winning Pennsylvania by a landslide. So that was very excellent, overall. So, thank you, Elon.”
