In Wisconsin Landslide And Florida Overperformance, Dems Ride Wave of Trump-Musk Backlash
We’re now seeing the most definitive electoral proof yet that President Trump and Elon Musk’s authoritarian recklessness is resulting in political weakness for the broader Republican Party.
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Over the past two and a half months, there have been indications of a forceful public backlash to the Trump Administration’s corruption.
From town halls filled with fired-up constituents, to Elon Musk’s Tesla facing sales slumps and protests, to the judiciary delivering mounting court losses, the Trump Administration’s overreach has backfired in major ways - as predicted.
Now, we’re seeing the most definitive electoral proof so far that President Trump and Elon Musk’s authoritarian recklessness is resulting in political weakness for the broader Republican Party.
With their landslide win in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race and their overperformance in two red districts in Florida, Democrats rode the wave of backlash and dealt a massive blow to President Trump and Elon Musk.
The takeaway was undeniable, with even the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal publishing an Editorial Board article titled, “The MAGA Backlash Arrives.” The Journal blamed the Wisconsin loss on President Trump and Elon Musk, and issued a warning for the 2026 midterms:
“That’s a warning to the GOP that the Trump-Musk governing style is stirring a backlash that could cost them control of Congress next year.”
That “governing style” is Trump and Musk’s efforts to unlawfully dismantle congressionally created agencies, carelessly fire thousands of federal workers, foolishly impose tariffs, and incompetently implement Project 2025. There’s no doubt that the Wisconsin race was a referendum on Trump and Musk.
“Our courts are not for sale,” Judge Susan Crawford declared on Tuesday night after she defeated Judge Brad Schimel, who was endorsed by President Trump and backed by the full force of Elon Musk. Musk spent $25 million on the race, campaigned in the state, ran a $1 million giveaway, and repeatedly claimed that the fate of “human destiny” rested on the results of this election.
The New York Times noted that “Never before had a single donor sought to influence an American judicial race to such a degree, and few had invested comparable sums in an election in which they were not themselves running.” Musk put a lot into this, and it wasn’t just as a favor to the Republican Party. Musk’s company, Tesla, sued Wisconsin in an effort to open a dealership in the state. This is a case that could appear before the state's Supreme Court.
In spite of all his best efforts, Musk’s candidate lost by 10 points - almost 240,000 votes. The race wasn’t even close. Donald Trump won this state by less than a percentage point in 2024, so that’s a 10-point swing.
Crawford, who is backed by Democrats, secured a 10-year term and solidified a 4-3 liberal majority until at least 2028. This win comes ahead of key cases on abortion and redistricting - which could put two more House seats in play for Democrats.
While Schimel ran ads showcasing his endorsement from Trump, Crawford made opposition to Musk a big part of her campaign, while Democratic groups spent millions highlighting Musk’s involvement in the race. Crawford’s strategy worked.
Semafor Reporter Dave Weigel made an observation about Crawford’s performance in a district Musk rallied in: “Susan Crawford wins Brown County (Green Bay), where Elon rallied on Sunday. Trump won it by 8 points last year.”
The Wisconsin race clearly demonstrated the toxicity of Elon Musk and the public anger at the Trump Administration’s abuses of power. There now seems to be an acknowledgment of this within Trump’s orbit, but more on that later in this piece.
Meanwhile, in Florida’s 1st and 6th districts, Republicans won and protected their House majority, but Democrats overperformed in a strong showing that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) says should have Republicans “quaking in their boots.”
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin broke down how Democrats ate into Republican margins in Florida districts Trump won by 30 points. From Politico:
On Tuesday, [Martin] said in a statement that the results marked an overperformance by Democrats, given that Trump won each seat by more than 30 points in November and Fine and Patronis saw a 14- and 15-point victory, respectively. Martin said the results came from voters who wanted to “voice their anger at Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” warning a “reckoning is coming” in 2026.
This 15-point swing is notable, given the number of House seats that are within a 15 point margin. If these swings sustain into next year, Democrats have a big shot at taking the House.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke to Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC about this on Tuesday night:
"One point that should have my Republican colleagues quaking in their boots. In the Florida 6th race, which was a Trump +30 district, the margin was cut in half. There are 60 Republicans in the House who currently represent districts where Trump did worse than 15 or 16 points. And every single one of those districts is now a target on the back of those House Republicans."
The Florida results are clearly part of the broader backlash against Trump and Musk.
“Tonight’s results represent a historic overperformance for Democrats and show that voters are already rejecting Trump’s extreme agenda,” Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said about the Florida races.
Nonprofit group Common Power organized volunteers to knock on thousands of doors in Wisconsin and Florida, showcasing the impact a strong ground game still has on election outcomes. Common Power’s Executive Director Charles Douglas laid the Republican underperformance in all of Tuesday’s elections at the feet of Trump and Musk after finding that voters on the ground were angry about the state of the country.
“We organized near and far, bringing together a coalition of Americans fed up with the destruction of our country to talk to our neighbors, make calls, and knock on doors. We talked to Republicans, moderates, and lapsed Dems in both Wisconsin and Florida who said they were newly enraged by Trump and Elon's actions, and others who regretted not voting the right way last year,” Douglas told me.
Douglas said in this election, “America showed the Oligarchy that it can't be bought. We pushed back against Elon's millions and sent a message to those following Trump's demands that they should think twice. Together we pushed back against authoritarianism, and we're just getting started."
While it’s long been clear to Trump’s opposition that Elon Musk has helped to trigger a mass mobilization of voters, there appears to be a growing recognition within the Trump Administration that Musk is indeed a political liability. On Wednesday morning, Politico reported:
“President Donald Trump has told his inner circle, including members of his Cabinet, that Elon Musk will be stepping back in the coming weeks from his current role as governing partner, ubiquitous cheerleader and Washington hatchet man.
Musk’s looming retreat comes as some Trump administration insiders and many outside allies have become frustrated with his unpredictability and increasingly view the billionaire as a political liability…”
It seems the era of Elon Musk unilaterally dismantling our federal government might be coming to an end soon, but the damage has already been done, and the mission will continue without him, perhaps more quietly. As I’ve written about extensively, a key Project 2025 Architect and the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, is now more methodically leading the effort to gut the federal government.
But while Trump might like to move to a more methodical and quiet pursuit of the Project 2025 agenda, Democrats may be finding their voice and new ways to make noise about this extremism.
As voters were casting ballots on Tuesday, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) delivered the longest floor speech in Senate history, speaking for over 25 hours. Booker surpassed the record previously held by segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Booker spoke eloquently throughout, lambasting the Trump Administration and calling on Americans to lean on their decency. Other Democratic Senators also chimed in with questions, giving Booker some speaking breaks, but he stood for the entire 25 hours.
When Cory Booker walked off the Senate floor after his speech, he was in a significantly more prominent position within the Democratic Party than the moment he walked onto it.
This speech wasn’t just notable for its historic nature, but because of the attention it captured. Booker’s TikTok live stream of his speech crossed 400 million total likes, with tens of thousands consistently watching concurrently. This doesn’t include the live streams on X, YouTube, and other streams from media organizations - which also garnered millions of views.
Countless clips went viral to millions on TikTok. And when I say they went viral, that's an understatement. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. The sheer volume of clips of his speech and folks talking about his speech with millions of views is insane.
In an information ecosystem where attention is a scarce commodity, this is how you break through.
Overall, Tuesday was a good day for Democrats. And for those who have lost faith in elections as a means through which we can hold Trump accountable, these races should bolster your hope in the process. Not to mention the fact that these wins also came amid recent special election wins in Iowa and Pennsylvania state races.
Between these races and Cory Booker’s historic speech, electoral power was flexed, attention was captured, and a message was sent: America is ready to fight back.
