Elon Musk, who poured at least $20 million into supporting conservative candidate Brad Schimel in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, reacted to Tuesday night’s loss by saying he expected to lose.
Musk, the world’s richest man and an ally of President Donald Trump, switched his attention early Wednesday morning, calling the passage of Wisconsin’s voter ID referendum question — the only statewide item on the ballot that went in Republicans’ favor — “the most important thing.”
Schimel lost by 10 percentage points to liberal candidate Susan Crawford, according to unofficial results, a wide margin that’s a rarity for purple Wisconsin. Some political observers say Musk’s involvement in the race may have hurt Schimel’s chances.
Musk poured at least $20 million into supporting Schimel through ads, events and even handing out oversized checks and cash to Wisconsin residents in an effort to draw attention to the race, a move that Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul unsuccessfully tried to block.
More: Elon Musk proved ‘more of an anvil than a buoy’ in GOP’s massive Wisconsin Supreme Court loss
Schimel conceded the race Tuesday night and urged his supporters to accept the results of the election.
Shortly after polls closed Tuesday night, unofficial results showed Wisconsin voters approved the referendum question to add the state’s voter ID law to the constitution. Wisconsin’s voter ID law, considered one of the strictest in the country, has been in effect since 2016.
“This was the most important thing,” Musk said on X, the social media platform he owns.
The state Supreme Court doesn’t have a case challenging voter ID, but it’s now much more difficult to theoretically strike down the requirement. Republicans in the state Legislature placed the question on the ballot hoping to prevent a liberal-controlled court from overturning it.
Raising voter ID to the constitution also makes it difficult for Democrats to get rid of the law if they eventually gain a majority in the Legislature. They’d have to go through the lengthy amendment process again to take it back out of the constitution.
Trump also called the passage of the referendum “a big win for Republicans, maybe the biggest win of the night” in a Truth Social post.
The referendum received far less attention during the campaign season than the Supreme Court race, especially compared to referendums in August 2024 when both state parties heavily encouraged voting a certain way on obscure questions about the governor’s authority over federal funds.
More: Wisconsin voted for a liberal justice and GOP voter ID measure. Why that’s not surprising
The state superintendent race, the other statewide contest on the April 1 ballot, went in Democrats’ favor. Jill Underly, a Democrat, won reelection as the state’s top K-12 education official.
Underly won by a smaller margin against conservative-backed candidate Brittany Kinser compared to the court race. According to unofficial results, Underly took about 53% of the vote, compared to Kinser’s 47%.
Underly faced a Democratic challenger, Jeff Wright, in the February primary. Wright argued voters were looking for new leadership in the Department of Public Instruction.
