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Elon Musk’s preferred candidate has been trounced in a pivotal Supreme Court race in Wisconsin that was widely seen as a referendum on the controversial billionaire and the Trump administration’s agenda.

Conservative Brad Schimel, whom Musk, the world’s richest man, backed with an unprecedented $25mn, lost on Tuesday to liberal judge Susan Crawford, according to the Associated Press.

The race became the most expensive judicial contest in US history and was seen as a test case for Musk’s political might outside Washington.

Musk, who campaigned in the state in person over the weekend, handing out two $1mn cheques to Schimel supporters, had cast the election as crucial to maintaining or enlarging the Republican’s razor-thin majority in Congress.

“Losing this judge race has a good chance of causing Republicans to lose control of the House. If you lose control of the House, there will be nonstop impeachment hearings. There will be nonstop hearings and subpoenas,” Musk, who is running Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, told Fox News on Tuesday.

In Florida, Republicans managed to fend off two Democratic challenges in special elections to the US House of Representatives, although the races proved tighter than expected.

Randy Fine, a Republican Florida state senator, won the House seat previously held by Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz, Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Republican chief financial officer, won the seat formerly occupied by Trump’s initial nominee for attorney-general Matt Gaetz.

Gaetz withdrew from consideration for the cabinet role following allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, which he denies

The Republican wins will raise the party’s majority in the House to 220 against the Democrats’ 213, easing the task of Speaker Mike Johnson as he seeks to push Trump’s legislative agenda through Congress.

Trump hailed the wins, writing on his Truth Social platform: “BOTH FLORIDA HOUSE SEATS HAVE BEEN WON, BIG, BY THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. THE TRUMP ENDORSEMENT, AS ALWAYS, PROVED FAR GREATER THAN THE DEMOCRATS FORCES OF EVIL.”

But Democrats performed much better than expected in both races, with the party emboldend by voter discontent with Trump’s agenda 10 weeks into his presidency. Republicans’ margins of victory were narrower November’s presidential election despite the contests being held in deep-red strongholds.

The result in Wisconsin will also solidify a liberal majority on the swing state’s high court, which is expected to hear cases in the coming months on abortion rights. The court could also be asked to weigh in on attempts to redraw Wisconsin’s electoral map ahead of the midterm elections in 2026.

The Wisconsin Democrats had cast the contest — which is technically non-partisan — as a referendum on Musk and Doge’s influence on the federal government.

The party ran a campaign called “People v Musk”, which featured the billionaire wielding a chainsaw and celebrating cuts to the administrative state.

The party and Crawford attracted large donations from other billionaires, including George Soros and Michael Bloomberg.

Underscoring Republicans’ jitters, Trump last week withdrew the nomination of New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador over fears that the race to replace her could also prove competitive.

MIAMI — Republican candidates have won in two special Congressional elections in Florida, helping the GOP retain its narrow majority in the U.S. House.

In the First Congressional District in Florida’s panhandle, the state’s former chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, defeated Democrat Gay Valimont. In the Sixth District, along Florida’s east coast, former state senator Randy Fine beat Democrat Josh Weil.

Republicans have a substantial registration edge in both districts. But the results were far closer than those seen in November, suggesting voters may be unhappy with Republicans, President Trump and his agenda.

In the First district in the area around Pensacola, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz defeated Valimont by 32 points in November. President Trump nominated Gaetz to be his Attorney General. Gaetz later withdrew and left Congress, leaving his seat open. Patronis jumped into the race but was heavily outraised by Valimont, who drew support from Democrats across the country. Patronis’ margin of victory was about 15 percentage points, 17 points lower than that seen by Gaetz in November.

In the Sixth district in central Florida, Fine beat Weil by about 14 points. That’s a significantly narrower margin than that seen by then-Congressman Mike Waltz in November. Waltz defeated his Democratic opponent by 33 points. He left the seat vacant when he was named Trump’s national security adviser. Weil raised ten times more money for his campaign than Fine and Democrats hoped they could pull out a victory in a red district.

Despite the losses, Democrats are celebrating what they’re calling “historic performances.”

The chair of the state’s Democratic party, Nikki Fried said, “Florida Democrats just put the Republican Party on notice. Tonight’s results represent a historic overperformance for Democrats and show that voters are already rejecting Trump’s extreme agenda.”

President Trump endorsed both Republican candidates. On Tuesday night, Fine highlighted Trump’s social media post on the victory, adding, “Because of you, Mr. President. I won’t let you down.”