Headline Roundup • April 2nd, 2025
Crawford's Wisconsin Supreme Court Win: A Warning For MAGA?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Tuesday night featured three political races, one for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, won by liberal Justice Susan Crawford, and two Florida House seats, won by Republicans. What do the results indicate?
For Context: Wisconsin was the closest swing state in the last presidential election, and Crawford's win secured a liberal majority on the court.
MAGA Backlash: The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (Lean Right bias) and a writer in The Guardian (Left) both argued that the results were a warning to Republicans. While the Florida seats were in safer districts, the win in Wisconsin, despite Elon Musk's infusion of money, indicates a burgeoning backlash to MAGA policies.
Musk Backlash: A Bloomberg (Lean Left) columnist and Washington Examiner (Lean Right) writer argued that Musk stole the spotlight and made the race about him rather than the candidates. The Examiner piece said, “Musk cannot transfer that political mojo to other races that do not feature Trump,” suggesting that Republicans can still win if Musk takes a back seat in the administration.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission.
Featured Coverage of this Story
In a major judicial victory for Democrats, Susan Crawford has won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating conservative former Attorney General Brad Schimel in a high-stakes race.
The election, held less than 100 days into President Donald Trump's return to the White House, was widely seen as a referendum on his administration. It also drew more than $90 million in spending, including over $25 million alone from Elon Musk and affiliated groups, making it the most-expensive judicial election in American history.
WHAT THE FLORIDA AND WISCONSIN ELECTIONS MEAN. Were there any surprises from the two House elections in Florida and the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin? Not really. Democrats were desperately hoping to strike a blow against President Donald Trump wherever they could. For a moment, they thought they might get close enough in one of the Florida races, not to win, but to embarrass the president. That didn’t happen. Then, in Wisconsin, they thought they might be able to attack Trump by attacking Elon Musk, who parachuted in to campaign for the conservative candidate. That turned...
Vincent Alban/Reuters
Donald Trump and the Republicans ought to be wary of a possible blue wave in next year’s midterms. On Tuesday, voters in Florida and Wisconsin signaled dissatisfaction with Elon Musk, the GOP and the president. On the surface, the results spelled political equipoise. No seats changed hands.
A closer look, however, reveals possible headaches for Donald Trump and his party.
AllSides Picks
Headline Roundup
PA Gov. Shapiro Signs Order Requiring Stricter Data Center Regulation
August 25th, 2026
Headline Roundup
Trump Moves to Cut Beef Prices With Import Tariff Waiver
August 22nd, 2026
Blog
When AOC Takes a Step Back—and Possibly Forward
Dan Schnur
August 24th, 2026
Blog
When Establishment Democrats Dodge a BulletÂ
Dan Schnur
August 17th, 2026
