Wisconsin rejects Musk
Liberal Susan Crawford defeated Elon Musk-backed conservative Brad Schimel on Tuesday, securing a pivotal spot on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Musk spent at least $25 million supporting Schimel’s candidacy, including on a sweepstakes in which he handed out three $1 million checks to voters who signed a petition denouncing “activist judges.”
To cope with the loss, Musk has focused his post-election commentary on the passage of a ballot measure adding a voter identification amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution. “This was the most important thing,” he said on Wednesday. That sentiment is at odds with Musk’s pre-election warnings, which described Schimel’s candidacy in existential terms.
“What’s happening on Tuesday is a vote for which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives — that is why it is so significant,” he said Sunday during a Schimel rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, referring to the congressional redistricting battles that play out in court houses. “And whichever party controls the House to a significant degree controls the country, which then steers the course of Western civilization. I feel like this is one of those things that may not seem that it’s going to affect the entire destiny of humanity, but I think it will.”
Surveys indicating Musk’s unpopularity among Democrats, independents, and some Republicans did not dissuade Musk from using his name in get-out-the-vote efforts. “I am with America PAC, an organization run by Elon Musk,” read one script that pro-Schimel canvassers from a Musk-backed operation recited to Wisconsin voters, according to the New York Times. “Can President Trump and Elon Musk count on you to vote for Brad Schimel?” the script continued. The Associated Press reported that America PAC spent $4.3 million canvassing for Schimel and another $4 million on phone banking, mail, and advertising.
Musk trotted out various monetized schemes to stimulate support for Schimel. While the $1 million sweepstakes appeared to violate a state law, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to intervene after the state’s Democratic attorney general sued to block the “contest.” America PAC also offered Wisconsin voters $100 to sign its petition against “activist judges” and another $100 for every voter they referred to it. The PAC had another program that offered participants $20 for uploading a photo of themselves knocking on doors and “[holding up] a picture of Judge Schimel.”
Crawford, the liberal judge who won a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeated Schimel by a comfortable margin, 55% to 45%.
In the hours following Crawford’s victory, Musk adopted a morose tone in posts on his social media platform. “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary,” he wrote in one post on X. Musk proceeded to frame Schimel’s defeat as if it was one of his failed SpaceX launches. “I expected to lose,” he wrote, “but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain.”
Musk’s interest in the race began shortly after his car company, Tesla, filed a lawsuit against the state of Wisconsin over a rule banning manufacturers from owning dealerships.
Musk "expected to lose," my ass!
Small buckets of hope - remember, small wins lead to tipping points.