JVL, Will Saletan and Lauren Egan react to the liberal state Supreme Court win in Wisconsin, despite Elon Musk injecting millions of dollars into the race.
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I feel like this is just another example of them testing the limits of what they can do. So many have capitulated. Glad to see Wisconsins are on the right side of history
Luv a pun. Sorrynotsorry!
Instead of 'conservative' vs 'liberal,' I'd like to see 'regressive' (take America back to some mythical idyllic past by wrecking what we have now) vs 'progressive' (focus on the best future possible for as many as possible).
Elon Musk is most certainly *not* a Milford man.
Didn’t Musk do the same thing in Pennsylvania for the presidential election?
Yes, but that was before his "work" for the administration began. 2+ months of the "burn it all down" implementation is not popular overall, so voter's view of him has changed.
MARCH THEM OUT of their offices JANUARY 6-STYLE!
Maybe, as Winston Churchill famously said, this is at least "the end of the beginning". Or when Gandalf returns as Gandalf the White, although I don't think we can be that hopeful yet.
Every county in Wisconsin drifted blue yesterday. Schimel underperformed Trump numbers, from 2024, in every county.
In Florida Gay Valimont flipped Escambia County which voted +19 for Trump and hasn't voted for a Democrat since JFK
As storms move across the country, let’s us be reminded E&D have FEMA in their crosshairs. The millions of dollars Musk used to buy an election might have come in handy after FEMA is gone. Oh, and let’s not forget about early detection warnings by the weather service (NOAA) as funds are removed.
yep...that ends badly, sooner than later. Arrogance and incompetence is all they have going on here.
Elon should be sacrificed to the bitter baby daddy god. We eat just one billionaire and I promise the rest will fall in line.
I love how WI can hold an entire Supreme Court race in the time it takes NC to settle our election from NOVEMBER 🙄
Cheeseheads don't like women hating Nazis. Who knew?
NYT Headline (I added the all caps): Republicans BOLSTER House Majority by RETAINING 2 Seats in Florida. Bolster doing a lot of work there; how about, Republicans MAINTAIN slim majority in House by keeping two safe seats in FL.
My personal fave from NYtimes: Liberal Wins Wisconsin Court Election, Despite Elon Musk's Millions. Should just read Crawford Wins....
NYTimes playing into the partisan crappery of the judiciary. How about the other guy sucked. My two cents :)
I worked as an election official in WI yesterday -- 13 hours checking in voters. The precinct I worked in is a mixture of white, Black, and Latino working class voters with a sprinkling of more affluent voters. Several voters who appeared to be working class (based on clothes, references to coming to vote after getting done with their shift, etc.) -- made sarcastic, irritated, or wryly humorous references to Musk's antics -- comments like, "I'm here for my million dollar vote -- what a joke" or "I'm a millionaire -- I voted!" My impression was of people of both political parties feeling insulted and annoyed at the world's richest man trying to buy our votes.
I also was struck by how eager people were to vote. People came in with babies and small children. They came using walkers. New voters came with utility bills and leases in hand to prove residency. A sister brought her brother to register as a new voter. They were lined up at the door at 7 a.m. They came all day with barely any lulls. They came at 7:55 p.m. to cast their vote at the last minute. People really wanted their voices heard in this election.
"I'm here for my million dollar vote -- what a joke" or "I'm a millionaire -- I voted!"
Hahahaha, some bitter, dead-on humor there. Thanks much jaj for your work and your reporting here!
Thanks WI for holding the line. We need more people like you guys to do the right thing for the right reasons. This election was a shining beacon of sanity for the rest of us in this country.
I worked the polls in Kenosha and I was struck by the number of young white men in shorts and flip flops (it was 35 degrees out) looking like they just rolled out of bed at noon. I assumed they were Elon/Rogan bros there to earn their $100. So I was thrilled with the results.
Thanks for working the election!
I beg you to stop describing Musk as neurodivergent.
Indeed. He’s nothing but a sociopathic asshole!
In the two Florida Congressional elections in heavily Republican Districts, the Republican margin of victory was cut in half. By about 15 points in both races. Extrapolate that out and around 65 current Republican House members in more purple districts are in serious trouble. That's going to start weighing on them day by day going forward
musk is a tool.
I think he will rue the day he decided to become the poster boy for fascist scum.
AMERICA!!
FUCK YEAH!
Thank you Wisconsin! How do we get these pay-for-vote schemes out of our politics?
I almost forgot how good it can feel to wake up to good news. This gives me some hope for the future. Good luck, America!
What I see in Florida on the day after Election Day, according to the NYT, is that the two Democrats running for congress finished 15 points behind the Republican winners. If these are indeed districts that Trump won by 30 points, then the Special Elections we just had show a 15 point swing toward the Dems.
Why does JVL say the Crawford election was closer than expected? She won by 10 points.
Only in so far as another WS Supreme Court "special election" in 2023 I believe it was came in at about the same percentage. I believe they expected Musk to cause a much bigger loss. I'm happy
I live in Green Bay Wisconsin. Elon didn’t just rub us the wrong way- we were absolutely pissed off at his blatant bribery and interference in our election. Green Bay which tends to be in the middle or slightly red had > 1000 people show up Sunday night to protest outside of where Elon hosted a rally. 1000 people protesting in Green Bay! That’s unheard of. Crawford won by 10 pts. A huge margin in our state. We sent Schimel, Elon and Trump packing. A HUGE win for democracy! Enjoy some hope
My 74 yo mother, a WI voter, texted me all night with f bombs and a meme of a giant block of cheese crushing a cybertruck!
I think you mean “HA HA HA F*CK YOU, ELON!”
Y'all trippin thinking Trump 2.0 and the Rs are gonna change or modify course. They'll double down on intimidation and vote suppression-disqualification: more threats, more investigations, more withholding of funds and cancelling of contracts, ongoing kidnappings, broadening definitions of domestic terrorists, wars
And it's just going to be worse for them.
And us
Overperformance of Schimel in WI scares me. If we take it seriously that a trade in voters has occurred where low-info/propensity voters exited the Democratic Party for the Republican party, and vis-a-versa for high-info/propensity voters then Dems should be overperforming to the degree in which they did in the Florida special elections (roughly 15 points). We should expect less carryover into the midterms than a special election.
This performance if it carried through to WI (though we shouldn't necessarily assume this because WI is relatively politically engaged due to its status as a swing state, differing demographics and so on) Musk's WAR effect on the election from his influence might be napkin estimated to be in the ballpark of 5 pts. That is terrifying for midterms. The 25 million he put into this single election if duplicated across each state in the union would be a rounding error in his wealth and a 5-point swing would heavily damage any Democratic attempts to wrestle back the Senate and severely reduce gains in the House.
I only hope that a year and a half is enough time for more of the nation to severely sour on Trump's governance and his elected Republican toadies.
Just because you are a swing state doesn't mean you are politically engaged. I can argue just the opposite. You are disengaged which is why it's easy to swing your vote.
Take the damn win. They are overreaching now and will only get worse.
Isn’t it staggeringly …what? sad? desperate? great?…how overwhelmed with relief one can feel.
He put the cheese hat on AND showed the belly
Expecto Patronus?
👍😊
Once the SS checks and Medicare delays occur than you'll see what happens in Florida
Hopefully that will do it. They def want cuts UNTIL it hits THEIR pocketbook.
Was waiting for this take :) Thanks for coming on and discuss this great news.
BIG WIN! On to the next fight.
And this from the Red state of Missouri about judge selection and retention. https://youtu.be/NoeXycc0lJk
Another bit of good news - when brad schimel told his campaign crowd he had made the concession call to Crawford there were voices pushing back and he told them "no no we have to accept the results." Hoping he sticks by that attitude
I thought that was good, as well. If he sticks with this, I wonder if it is because he is seeing some sign that Musk is really bad and that people ain't happy with the GOP. But, then again, he supported the Stop the Steal nonsense.
True and I don't trust him as far as I could throw him, but I'm hoping that some people in the Republican party are finally starting to realize that voter fraud reasons after every election loss is not going to fly for very long. Particularly since the state also voted to enshrine voter ID in the Constitution in order to supposedly prevent fraud.
Thanks for the late-night reporting - so sweet to see you in your jammies and smiling.
Think what could have been done with $20M to help people.
Wait!! Sweet Jesus!! Is Jonathan Last hopeful? Is he feeling okay? Is he running a fever? The Bulwark needs to know!!😁😁😁😁
I donated to both Florida candidates out of blind optimism. I knew it was probably fruitless but it made me feel like I was doing something. My son asked what I was doing and I jokingly told him I was “trying to buy Congress”. Not that my $40 would get me much, but I’ve definitely spent way more than that on even more useless things. I’m so thrilled that Elon’s bid to buy a Supreme Court was thwarted tonight. He spent way more than I did and he got less than nothing.
It wasnt fruitless. The closed the gap kore, they revealed that a large swath of people came out against the Republicans and FOR democracy.
I was stationed in Pensacola as a young Marine. I know what that district is like, but I did it anyway. Democrats and Independents need to put every single district in play every single election.
Why would you even WANT Republicans to win? I dont understand. This is the party that has given Trump carte Blanche to ruin the country with clown car administration of a country. The truth is I find this substack group disappointing. This reporting feels naive. the Republicans have more than a “Musk problem” the Republicans have a moral decrepitude problem. They have a greed problem. It isnt just Musk. The Republicans have so many many problems and Musk is the exemplification of these problems. He is a bulbous infected pusball of a symptom, he is not the cause the cause is Republican lack of humanity and humility.
Can you elaborate on what you find disappointing? I don’t think anyone in this group is going to disagree with anything you just said about the current Republican Party. Everyone here wanted Elon and Shimel to lose this.
Huh? No one here wanted a Republican victory tonight -- or ever again as long as MAGA exists. Wisconsin is a huge relief and while the GOP did win in FL, the fact that it wasn't a blowout offers a sliver of hope for us (and a cold chill down the vestigial spines of the GOP).
Don’t forget the cheese hat. Embarrassing.
Looks like Musk’s stock has peaked, let’s hope Tesla stock gets the memo tomorrow…:)
Lauren absolutely no sold the Harry Potter pun
Momentous victories like this will be few and far between over the next year, so let’s pop all the bottles and smoke em if you got em tonight . Democracy lives to fight another day.
JVL: The Audacity of Hope
JVL looks truly joyful… and a little lighter than the last 3 weeks!
Elon Musk do you:
1) Dump tens of millions into a state Supreme Court race?
2) Pay your baby mamas the child support they deserve?
I admit, I think it will be better for the country if wins like this are reported as WIN FOR DEMOCRACY and fair voting rather than win for liberals. I hope that the good folks at The Bulwark+ can take part in helping to frame the fight against authoritarianism and dictatorship as one that is pro-democracy , as it serves all people in the US and ultimately the world and what allies we may keep
Extremely important point.
A will for America, a win for democracy, a win for American Patriots!!!!!
Take it back from the crazy!
I endorse this point. I am a liberal, but I think what distinguishes us is we believe in things like the law, the constitution, and democratic values. The other side, not so much.
Yay! Such a relief! ❤️
WE DID IT BABY!!! Sucks to suck elon. Give us some stimmys after you implode your company and pay back the reparations for your assault on the American people. Instead of failing to buy elections, use the money to buy a condo on Mars, and promptly GTFO and don’t come back. sincerely, America
We had great turnout for an April election where I am at with ~58%! So happy!
It turns out that Elon is a GOTV machine - for both sides!
Will! You shaved the beard. April fools?
Thank f’ing God
Hi JVL. Hi brother Will. So happy to celebrate this Wisconsin with you.