Trump faces first electoral test in Wisconsin, Florida votes
[WASHINGTON] Donald Trump’s rampaging new presidency faces its first electoral test on Tuesday in an election to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and a pair of races in Florida where Democrats hope to deliver a show of strength.
Trump has gone all out to boost Republican chances in the contests and sent his controversial, hugely powerful advisor Elon Musk - the world’s richest man - to sway the vote in Wisconsin.
Now, after two months in which the Trump-Musk tandem has appeared nearly unstoppable, Americans will get a say.
Trump again pushed on Tuesday for the conservative judge running for the spot on Wisconsin’s top court, saying on social media that Brad Schimel was a “Patriot” while his liberal opponent Susan Crawford is a “Radical Left Liberal.”
Echoing his usual extreme rhetoric, Trump claimed Crawford has a “History of letting child molesters and rapists off” and that a win by her would be a “DISASTER.”
Musk, who has spearheaded Trump’s radical attempts to gut much of the US government in a right-wing cost-cutting drive, went himself to Wisconsin to drum up support for Schimel.
“It’s like one of those strange situations where a seemingly small election would determine the fate of Western civilisation here,” Musk said in a discussion on his social media platform X on Tuesday.
The highlight of his weekend visit to the upper Midwestern state reprised a tactic seen during his efforts to help Trump defeat Democrat Kamala Harris in November - handing out money to anyone who signed a petition against so-called “activist judges.”
Senator Bernie Sanders, a major force on the left of the Democratic Party, told supporters on X they had “the power to REJECT Musk and the oligarchy buying our elections. Send a powerful message to the whole country. Vote today for Susan Crawford.”
Beyond testing the public mood, the Wisconsin result will decide whether the state’s Supreme Court - which rules on things like voting district boundaries - tilts majority left or right.
In Florida, two seats to the US House of Representatives are up for grabs to fill vacancies left by Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and failed nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz.
These are safe Republican seats and Democrats have no illusions about winning.
But in one of the races, Democrat Josh Weil is performing unexpectedly well against Trump-backed Jimmy Patronis. Anything other than a crushing victory by Patronis would be interpreted as a rebuke to the Republicans.
Democrats, who have been adrift since losing the presidency to Trump and both chambers of Congress in November, are desperately looking for resurgence - and a decent showing in Florida plus a win in Wisconsin could be the spark.
Big stakes, bigger money
Illustrating the stakes of the contest in Wisconsin, the race has set a spending record - much of that in advertising and attempts, particularly by Musk, to drive turnout.
Musk, who spent roughly US$277 million on Trump’s 2024 election campaign, has piled resources into the state Supreme Court vote.
On the weekend, he presented cheques of US$1 million to two voters and US$100 each to other voters who signed his petition.
According to the Brennan Centre for Justice, more than US$49.7 million has been spent by Schimel and his backers, including US$12.2 million from Musk’s America PAC.
Crawford’s campaign and those backing her have spent an estimated US$40.3 million.
The spending has made the Wisconsin race the most expensive in US judicial history, the center said.
Billionaire Musk’s Green Bay rally on the weekend had an enthusiastic crowd, but the South African-born oligarch’s role in Wisconsin elections has provoked as much resistance as support.
At a pro-Crawford rally, 65-year-old retired electrical engineer Rob Patterson held up a sign showing Musk giving a straight-armed salute.
“Our Supreme Court is not for sale,” the sign read. AFP
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