Democrats Win Race for Supreme Court in Wisconsin, but GOP Holds Its Congressional Seats in Florida

Democrats are popping champagne corks this morning after a liberal in Wisconsin won the seat on the state’s Supreme Court, though in the first major contests of President Trump’s second term, the GOP held its ground in Florida, winning both the congressional seats being contested. In the lead-up to the Tuesday elections, there were signs that Democrats would perform well, given their success in flipping a Pennsylvania state senate seat just last month that had gone to Mr. Trump by double digits in 2024 and the fact that they had only narrowly lost a special election in Iowa in a deep-red district. The most newsworthy victory for Democrats on Tuesday was in Wisconsin, which was the closest state in the 2024 presidential election where Mr. Trump won by fewer than 30,000 votes over Vice President Harris. Democrats were able to hold on to the liberal majority on the state’s supreme court with their candidate winning by more than 10 points. The Republican-backed candidate for the court, Judge Brad Schimel, quickly conceded on Tuesday night after the race was called less than 90 minutes after polls closed. Despite a $20 million investment from Mr. Musk and an in-person appearance by the billionaire at Green Bay on Sunday night, Wisconsinites easily dispatched Judge Schimel.That may have been due in part to his ties with the world’s richest man. The victor, Judge Susan Crawford, speaking to her supporters on Tuesday night, derided Mr. Musk and his efforts to defeat her. “As a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could’ve imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world,” she said. “And we won.”Mr. Musk, during a town hall meeting at Green Bay, had described the state supreme court election as determinative for the future of western civilization. He spoke more about DOGE and X than he did about Judge Schimel. Justice-elect Crawford may now be a pivotal vote on the supreme court if liberal advocates were to bring a challenge to the state’s congressional districts, which currently favor Republicans but could be redrawn to give Democrats a chance at picking up at least two seats in the United States House. In a more aspirational move, many Democrats turned their eyes to Florida, where two special elections were being held in deep-red congressional districts. The Democrats hoped that they could overperform enough to puff out their chests. Much of their focus was on the race in the sixth district that took place because Michael Waltz resigned from his House seat to become the national security advisor.A Republican state senator, Randy Fine, barely campaigned for the sixth district special election up until last week and raised fewer than $1 million even though his Democratic opponent had raised north of $14 million. The sixth district went for both Messrs. Trump and Waltz by more than 30 points just in November. That’s a context in which Democrats will boast that on Tuesday, Mr. Fine won his special election by only 14 points. Governor DeSantis represented the district before being elected Florida’s chief executive, and he warned members of the press in March that the likely swing to the left in the sixth district would be the result of Mr. Fine’s flaws — not the flaws of the Republican Party. “The liberal media in Washington … they’re gonna try to weaponize that against the president” if Mr. Fine was underperforming, Mr. DeSantis told reporters. “As somebody that’s been around the block here in Florida on this stuff, I can tell you that’s not [the case]. It’s a candidate-specific issue.”Despite Mr. DeSantis’s analysis, the 15-point swing to the right was not exclusive to the sixth district. On the panhandle, in Congressman Matt Gaetz’s former district — where Democrats did not invest money — the Democratic candidate, while losing, also moved the district 15 points to the left. The Republican congressman-elect, Jimmy Patronis, won his seat in Mr. Gaetz’s former district by less than 15 points, defeating Democratic nominee Gay Valimont. In November, Ms. Valimont lost the general election to Mr. Gaetz by 32 points.

Democrats Win Race for Supreme Court in Wisconsin, but GOP Holds Its Congressional Seats in Florida

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