Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine certainly took home each a seat in the House of Representatives. But despite the Trumpification in the Republican red Florida, they won with a lower margin than Trump's in the presidential election last autumn.
Patronis, who will replace the controversial former justice minister candidate Matt Gaetz, led over his Democratic opponent by 11 percentage points when the news agency AP crowned him the winner. Fine's margin of victory was eight percentage points when it became clear that he would take over security adviser Mike Waltz's seat.
Trump, whose margin of victory in his home state in November was over 13 percentage points, was not slow to pat himself on the back:
"Trump support, as always, proved greater than the Democrats' evil forces. Congratulations America!!", he writes in capital letters on his own platform Truth.
A Finger Pointing?
By-elections and local elections that take place shortly after a president has moved into the White House usually receive extra attention in the USA. This is because they are seen as a finger pointing to what voters think of the new leader.
From that perspective, the HD court election in Wisconsin should create cold sweats among Republicans. The election was largely seen as a referendum on Musk's and Donald Trump's popularity, and in the media, Crawford's victory is described as a "shock win".
Musk and his associates spent at least 21 million dollars on conservative Brad Schimel's campaign, according to the news agency AP. Moreover, the tech billionaire gave three individual voters one million dollars each – and campaigned in a cowboy hat to praise the state's many dairy farmers. The campaign, which mainly dealt with abortion rights and how maps of the state's electoral districts should be drawn, is described as the most expensive court election so far in the USA.
I never thought I would take on the world's richest man for the judiciary in Wisconsin. And we won, says Susan Crawford in her victory speech according to The Washington Post.
Creating Hope
Wisconsin is a swing state where it hangs in the balance between a Republican and Democratic majority. In the presidential election in November, Trump defeated the Democrats' Kamala Harris there by only 0.8 percentage points.
For Democrats, Crawford's victory creates hope that they can gain a majority in Congress in the midterm election in 2026.
