Despite billionaire Elon Musk’s repeated warnings that “Western Civilization” was at stake 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 billionaire, who has dominated headlines since joining Trump’s administration as the aggressive head of the Department of Government Efficiency, had gone all-in on the race.
His political groups spent more than $20 million in an effort to push conservative candidate Brad Schimel across the finish line — flooding the airwaves with television ads and saturating Google and Facebook with digital spots. He deployed a ground team across the state to turn out voters, and personally handed out two $1 million checks at a rally where he appeared onstage wearing a cheesehead hat.
But it wasn’t enough.
Elon Musk looks on during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House Mar, 24, 2025 in Washington.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Schimel lost by what could be a double-digit margin, handing the world’s richest man a significant political setback and prompting questions about how eager Republicans will be to embrace Musk’s involvement in future races, including the midterms.
But despite Tuesday’s result, Musk remains undeterred in his political ambitions. According to people familiar with his operation, he still plans to play a major role in helping Republicans retain control of the House in future races, including the 2026 midterms.
Sources said Musk and his team entered the Wisconsin race knowing it would be an uphill battle. Part of the calculation, according to people close to the effort, was that Democrats in Wisconsin would likely make Musk the face of their attacks regardless, so it was better to confront them directly and make the case to voters rather than let those attacks go unanswered.
Musk’s political team had seen warning signs in the final stretch. A memo from one of his groups obtained by ABC News showed that Schimel had been trailing liberal candidate Susan Crawford by double digits earlier in the race and his numbers improved after a wave of negative advertising. But in the days leading up to Tuesday, Musk’s team saw Schimel’s numbers tank, prompting the billionaire to go on a media blitz that included multiple livestream events and an interview on Fox News.
Now, Democrats are working quickly to capitalize on Crawford’s victory and portray Musk as a liability for Trump and the Republican Party.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Schimel’s loss was a referendum on Musk.
“Wisconsin voters sent a decisive message to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE by rejecting an extreme Republican for their Supreme Court: our Democracy is not for sale,” Schumer wrote on X.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire himself who donated more than $1 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin ahead of the race, wrote on X late Tuesday night, “Elon Musk is not good at this.”
Patrick Guarasci, a Wisconsin-based political operative who served as the chief strategist for Susan Crawford’s campaign, echoed that view. He said one of the key takeaways for Democrats nationally is the importance of confronting Musk’s political efforts directly.
“We didn’t back down from a fight when Elon Musk got into this race. We didn’t go looking for that fight, but we didn’t back down from it. And I think that’s probably one of the lessons learned,” Guarasci told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday.
Still, Musk’s supporters note that the billionaire also played a central role in Trump’s 2024 presidential win, particularly focusing on Pennsylvania with similar tactics.
“[Musk] journeyed to Pennsylvania where he spent a month and a half campaigning for me … and he’s a popular guy,” Trump said at a rally after his election win. “He knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers, those vote-counting computers, and we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide. So, it was pretty good, it was pretty good. So, thank you to Elon.”