Elon Musk Might Cost GOP More Than Just Wisconsin Supreme Court

Yahoo

02-04-2025

The shocking results of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election may have far-reaching effects on the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the state election Tuesday, Judge Susan Crawford beat Judge Brad Schimel, cementing a 4–3 liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Crawford's win could have a significant impact on efforts to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Crawford's victory gives Democrats the opportunity to challenge Wisconsin's congressional maps, and Republicans seem to know it.
Republican Representative Derrick Van Orden told CNN's chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju Tuesday that if Crawford won, he and Representative Bryan Steil would surely lose their seats as a result of redistricting.
'We both lose,' he said. 'So that's why everyone's paying attention to this on a national level.'
Van Orden's concerns about his seat aren't unwarranted.
In 2023, Wisconsin's Supreme Court found that the state's Republican-drawn state Assembly and Senate maps were unconstitutional. The justices determined the earlier conservative-controlled court had been wrong to say that new maps should be required to have the 'least change' possible from the already established maps. The redrawn maps saw Democrats gain 14 seats in the state Assembly and Senate.
The Elias Group, a Democratic law firm, then challenged Wisconsin's congressional maps using the same argument, that the maps drawn up in 2021 were designed to make the 'least changes' to Republican-approved maps from 2011. While the liberal-majority court denied the firm's bid, Crawford's presence may give Democrats another shot to challenge the 'least change' requirement and redraw the maps.
Republicans have amassed six out of the state's eight U.S. House seats, despite holding thin margins in statewide races. Van Orden and Steil both won their reelection bids in November, but since representatives serve just two years at a time, they will both be vulnerable to being unseated in the 2026 midterm elections.
Earlier this week, Elon Musk, who spent millions backing Schimel in the Supreme Court race, told Fox News that Crawford's win could not only cost Republicans their majority in the House, which currently sits at a narrow split of 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats, but it could also spell trouble for Donald Trump.
'Losing this judge race has a good chance of causing Republicans to lose control of the House. If you lose control of the House, there will be nonstop impeachment hearings. There will be nonstop hearings and subpoenas,' Musk warned.
Now Musk's worst nightmare has come true.