The results of three elections on Tuesday are “early warning signs” to Republicans and President Trump, says The Associated Press.
In the race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, conservative Judge Brad Schimel — who was endorsed by Trump and backed by Musk and his groups with $21 million — lost to liberal Judge Susan Crawford 45 percent to 55 percent in a state the president won in November.
And while Florida Republicans held on to two of the most pro-Trump House districts in the country, both candidates also significantly underperformed Trump’s November margins, AP says.
Republican Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, fended off a challenge from Democrat Gay Valimont to win Florida’s 1st District seat vacated by Matt Gaetz by 15 points. Trump carried the district by about 37 points in November.
And Republican Randy Fine won his special election in Florida's 6th District to replace Rep. Mike Waltz, who stepped down to serve as Trump’s national security adviser. But Fine’s Democratic challenger, Josh Weil, lost by 14 points, less than five months after Waltz won the district by 33 points.
The elections — the first major contests since Trump’s return to power — are seen as an early measure of voter sentiment “as Trump works with unprecedented speed to dramatically upend the federal government, clashing with the courts and seeking revenge as he tests the bounds of presidential power,” AP says.
Also on Tuesday, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., broke the record for the longest speech on the Senate floor. He spoke about his roots as a descendant of both slaves and slave-owners as he spoke for 25 hours, breaking the record of Sen. Strom Thurmond, the avowed segregationist from South Carolina who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Throughout his speech, Booker read letters from Americans about the impact Trump’s agenda is having on their lives, drawing historical parallels and warning that the country faces a “looming constitutional crisis.”
“This is a moral moment,” Booker said. “It’s not left or right; it’s right or wrong.”
Booker invoked the words of his mentor, the late congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis: “He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation.”
Protests of Trump actions are scheduled for April 5 in 1,000 places around the country.