As Wisconsinites Vote Early, Anti-Musk Protesters Seek Victory in Supreme Court Election

EAU CLAIRE, Wis.—On the streets of a politically contested territory, one of America’s most politically contested figures has come to dominate the story of the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

Local activists who favor Susan Crawford, the candidate endorsed by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and other Democrats, have sought to make the race a referendum on Elon Musk. The special government adviser supports the Republican-backed candidate, Brad Schimel.

Election Day is April 1.

Musk “has an incredible amount of power,” said Anne, a woman who would not provide her last name, outside a Crawford rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on March 25.

“He wasn’t elected anything,” she told The Epoch Times.

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At a sidewalk demonstration in Eau Claire on March 26, Barb Wise was holding a sign referencing DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, a time-limited government commission in which Musk is playing a key role.

“Elon Musk is trying to purchase the Supreme Court in the State of Wisconsin,” she told The Epoch Times.

By March 28, voters had cast more than 500,000 absentee ballots ahead of the April 1 election. The election also includes other state and local positions.

The Supreme Court race is nominally non-partisan, but the individuals and groups giving their time and money to it foresee significant political implications.

A victory for Schimel, who served as attorney general under Gov. Scott Walker, would tip Wisconsin’s high court to a 4–3 conservative majority. That could make the difference in future cases involving abortion, elections, and other key issues—including House seats in the closely divided Congress.

In a conversation with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin on March 24, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said “an enlightened Supreme Court” could redraw the congressional map in Wisconsin to address what he called gerrymandering.

The liberal-dominated court ruled a previous set of district boundaries unconstitutional in December 2023. Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled state legislature swiftly approved congressional maps redrawn by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. The Wisconsin Supreme Court went on to block an effort by Democrats, including Evers, to alter those boundaries further.

Speakers at the March 26 Eau Claire rally included Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat who lost November’s Third District House race to the incumbent, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.). Earlier in March, she announced plans to challenge him in that highly competitive district next year. Cooke also ran in 2022 but lost her party’s primary to a local state senator, Brad Pfaff.

The GOP has sometimes struggled to turn out voters when the president’s name hasn’t been on the ballot. A recent upset victory by a Democrat in a Pennsylvania state Senate election has heartened some members of the party, still smarting after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) acceded to a Trump-backed funding bill earlier this month.

Yet, some attendees of the pro-Crawford event in Eau Claire expressed concerns about the tight race. While Trump and Musk may be a negative focal point for Democrats, the involvement of either or both in promoting Schimel could motivate Republicans.

Wise said “people on the other side came out of the woodwork” in November to vote for Trump and only Trump, citing her experience as a poll watcher.

A young woman at the Eau Claire rally, Amanda Shipley, said that Musk and Trump have “an aura to them” that appeals to young male voters.

She sounded supportive of activists’ efforts to make the conversation about Musk, saying voters with whom she speaks are often confused about the Tesla CEO’s role in the Trump administration.

“They just know that he’s involved, but they don’t know what that means,” she said. “I feel he has way too much power.”