This week will be perhaps one of the most important in Donald Trump's nascent second term as president. Wednesday will kick off his "Liberation Day" when his proposed tariffs will go into effect. Congress continues to negotiate his proposed "one big, beautiful bill" to cut taxes and ramp up defense and border spending while increasing oil production.
So far, there have been few ways for voters to register dissatisfaction on a large scale, save for a few one-off special elections to fill state legislative seats, where Democrats overperformed, a byproduct of how the Democratic Party has become one of highly educated and high-propensity voters.
But Tuesday will be the first test for Democrats to see if they can turn dissatisfaction with Trump into votes or if Republicans can create a firewall – and if Trump indeed has a mandate.
First, there's Florida. Matt Gaetz, the right-wing firebrand congressman, resigned his seat as soon as Trump nominated him to become attorney general, which never came to pass.
But the real challenge will be in Florida's sixth district, which Michael Waltz vacated when he became Trump's national security adviser.
Republican Jimmy Patronis is almost guaranteed to win in Florida's 1st. But as Inside Washington explained last week, Florida's sixth district is becoming a tougher slog than imagined. For context, Trump won it by 30 points.
While the tussle in Florida is certainly entertaining, Musk and Democrats have made their main focus the election for a seat on Wisconsin's supreme court the main prize on Tuesday evening.
While the races are ostensibly non-partisan, the balance on the court is currently 4-3 with the liberals in control ever since Janet Protasiewicz won her race in 2023. Liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, meaning there is a closely-watched race between circuit judge Susan Crawford, a liberal, and former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel.
Over the weekend, Elon Musk visited Wisconsin, where he gave two $1 million checks to Republican voters and decked himself out in the customary cheesehead. Specifically, Musk correctly pointed out that the court would determine the drawing of congressional districts in the swing state.
As of right now, Wisconsin only has two Democratic members of Congress and six Republicans. A new court could change that. Musk also has a vested interest because he has a legal fight in Wisconsin after Tesla was denied a request to open an auto dealership in the state.
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