Republicans lawmakers win special elections in Florida, while Democratic-backed judge prevails in Wisconsin.
United States President Donald Trump has received a mixed scorecard in state elections that were widely viewed as an early test of his administration’s popularity.
Republicans in Florida on Tuesday won two special elections for seats in the US House of Representatives, bolstering their legislative majority and shoring up Trump’s ability to pursue his domestic agenda unfettered.
The victories of Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine increased the Republicans’ majority in the House to 220 lawmakers, compared with the Democrats’ 213.
With most of the ballots counted late on Tuesday, Patronis and Fine, both of whom ran in solidly Republican districts, had prevailed over their Democratic challengers, Gay Valimont and Josh Weil, with more than 56 percent of the vote.
“BOTH FLORIDA HOUSE SEATS HAVE BEEN WON, BIG, BY THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
“THE TRUMP ENDORSEMENT, AS ALWAYS, PROVED FAR GREATER THAN THE DEMOCRATS FORCES OF EVIL. CONGRATULATIONS TO AMERICA!!!
But in Wisconsin, Trump suffered a setback after a Democrat-backed judge was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite his cost-cutting tsar, Elon Musk, pouring more than $21m into the campaign of her conservative opponent.
With more than 90 percent of votes counted, Susan Crawford comfortably led Brad Schimel with more than 54 percent of the vote.
The result means that the top state court, which is responsible for key decisions on federal election-related issues such as voting district boundaries, will retain its 4-3 liberal majority.
“I gotta tell ya — as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could’ve imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin,” Crawford, a Circuit Court Judge in Dane County, said in her victory speech, referring to Musk.
“And we won!”
Musk, who leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, had played an outsize role in the race, which was by far the most expensive judicial contest in US history.
On Sunday, Musk handed out $1m checks to two Wisconsin voters during a rally to mobilise support for Schimel in the race, which he called “important for the future of civilisation”.