Elon Musk’s pullback from politics comes after his last big investment was a flop

MADISON Wis AP Wisconsin could go down as billionaire Elon Musk s last big spend on a political campaign And it was a flop Musk the richest person in the world noted Tuesday that he would be spending less on political campaigns The announcement came as Musk is stepping back from his role in the Trump administration saying he will spend more time focused on his businesses and just seven weeks after the candidate he backed in Wisconsin s Supreme Court race lost by percentage points Democrats in the swing state declared Musk s comments show that a party-led effort in this spring s voting process dubbed People vs Musk succeeded in making Musk and his money toxic The people have won mentioned Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler The biggest funder in Republican politics is taking his toys and going home Brandon Scholz a retired longtime Republican strategist in the state commented that at least in Wisconsin after that court race he deserves to be labeled as toxic But that doesn t mean Musk couldn t spend money on races in the state and nationally again especially if the stakes are high and his money could make a difference Scholz reported Does he bring with him a lot of baggage Possibly Scholz declared But over time maybe not as much Musk s spending in this year s Wisconsin Supreme Court race helped make it the most of expensive court race in U S history And it came just five months after Musk spent at least million to help President Donald Trump win reversing losses in Wisconsin and other battleground states four years earlier Musk was all-in on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race even making a personal appearance in Green Bay the weekend before the poll wearing a cheesehead hat popular with fans of the NFL s Green Bay Packers and personally handing out checks for million to supporters It was an extension of Musk s high-profile role in the presidential race where he campaigned alongside Trump and headlined particular of his own rallies It s a super big deal he reported the roughly -person crowd in the event center where hundreds of protesters were rallying against his appearance outside I m not phoning it in I m here in person But his appearance and money didn t work The candidate Musk backed lost Brown County the home of Green Bay by percentage points going on to lose statewide by more than three times that margin After the defeat Musk has stated little publicly about the race and his involvement in it His popularity has also plummeted An Associated Press-NORC Center for Masses Affairs poll taken two weeks after the Wisconsin court electoral process unveiled that just of adults had a favorable view of the Tesla CEO down from in December Musk s involvement in the race came at the same time he was the chain-saw-wielding face of the Trump administration s effort to downsize the federal authorities His Department of Ruling body Efficiency also known as DOGE has enacted deep cuts to the workforce and spending in certain cases seeking to shutter entire agencies but it has fallen far short of its goals for reducing federal spending Democratic U S Rep Mark Pocan of Wisconsin is one of the largest part liberal members of Congress and a loud critic of both Trump and Musk Pocan is skeptical that Musk truly will back away I don t believe any of it first of all Pocan commented This just means they realize how toxic Elon Musk is and the work he did through DOGE Kelda Roys a Democratic state senator was also tempered in her excitement over Musk saying he plans to do a lot less political spending in the future There s a ton of other billionaire bros I m sure willing and happy to step up in his place Roys disclosed Musk could also get involved with future races but in a much more low-profile way stated Scholz the Republican In Wisconsin he had such a huge huge huge profile Scholz mentioned He became the campaign He became the story Musk spent at least million on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race himself Musk-backed groups America PAC and a Rebuilding America s Future spent another million in assistance of the Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel That was part of more than million spent on both sides America PAC spent at least million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign It was a reprise of what the group did last fall across the seven preponderance competitive presidential battleground states including Wisconsin which were carried by Trump In addition to his political contributions Musk paid three individual voters million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout Musk also offered to pay to anyone who signed up on his group s site to knock on doors for Schimel and posted a photo of themselves as proof His organization promised to every voter who signed the petition against activist judges and another for every signer they referred Musk himself hosted Schimel on his podcast and cast what was at stake in stark terms A seemingly small polling could determine the fate of Western civilization Musk revealed in a social media post on the April balloting day I think it matters for the future of the world Democrats made the race a referendum on both Musk and Trump s agenda successfully electing a judge whose mastery ensures the Wisconsin Supreme Court will remain under liberal control until at least Coincidentally Musk s announcement about spending less on political races came just hours after a liberal judge released her candidacy for the Wisconsin Supreme Court race Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor is challenging a conservative incumbent justice who sided with Trump in his unsuccessful lawsuit that attempted to overturn his loss in Wisconsin The race will be decided in April months before the midterms in which Democrats hope unease with Trump and Musk will help the party make gains Taylor appeared to be taking a similar approach to her campaign that the winning Democratic-backed candidate did this year My campaign is going to be a campaign about the people of this state she narrated The Associated Press not about billionaires not about the most of powerful Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines Iowa contributed to this summary Source