What Wisconsin's Election Results Taught Us

Elon Musk spent $21 million on a Wisconsin Supreme Court race with Charlie Kirk's help and lost by a wide margin.

A funny thing happened in Wisconsin last week. After pouring $21 million into a state Supreme Court race and declaring it would decide "the fate of Western civilization," Elon Musk did what every rich political tourist does when the results don’t go their way: he pivoted like a broken Roomba, bumping into a different talking point.

His guy, Brad Schimel, a Trump-endorsed conservative, lost. Badly. Ten points. In a state where races are usually settled by a few hundred votes and at least one recount. You’d think that kind of spanking might spark some introspection. But no. Musk looked at the scoreboard and said, essentially, “Actually, we meant to lose.”

His consolation prize? A voter ID referendum that passed.

Except—small detail—Wisconsin already has voter ID laws—they have for over a decade. This referendum just makes it harder for the Wisconsin legislature to undo those laws.

This wasn’t a strategy. It was spin. And not even a good spin. Just a lazy, transparent, insult-your-intelligence spin.

Republicans, we’ve got to stop doing this.