A political action committee funded by billionaire Elon Musk is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition opposing “activist judges,” just two weeks before the state’s Supreme Court election. This move follows a similar proposal made last year in key battleground states.
America PAC, Musk’s political action committee, announced the petition in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday evening. It promises $100 for each Wisconsin voter who signs the petition, plus an additional $100 for every person they refer.
Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, accused Musk of attempting to buy votes ahead of the crucial April 1 election. This offer was made just two days after early voting began in the tightly contested race between Crawford and Brad Schimel, the Republican-endorsed candidate who has Musk’s support.
The outcome of the election will decide whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court continues to be under liberal control or shifts to a conservative majority.
Musk’s PAC previously employed a similar strategy ahead of the November presidential election. It offered $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other key battleground states who signed a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments.
Philadelphia’s district attorney filed a lawsuit to block the payments, arguing they violated Pennsylvania law. However, a judge ruled that prosecutors did not prove the effort was an illegal lottery, allowing the payments to continue until Election Day.
America PAC and Building for America’s Future, two organizations funded by Musk, have spent over $13 million in support of Schimel, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The election outcome will decide whether conservative or liberal justices control the court, with crucial issues at stake, including abortion, public sector unions, voting laws, and congressional district boundaries.
Derrick Honeyman, spokesperson for the Crawford campaign, accused Musk of attempting to “buy a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to secure a favorable ruling in his company’s lawsuit against the state.”
Just days before Musk’s groups began spending on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, Tesla, the electric car company led by Musk, filed a lawsuit against the state over its refusal to allow the company to open dealerships. Musk, who is also CEO of SpaceX, is involved in the case, which could eventually reach the state’s Supreme Court.
“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud,” Musk posted on X, just eight days before Tesla filed its lawsuit in January.
When asked for comment on Friday, Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for America PAC, referred to Musk’s X post announcing the petition. Schimel’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Crawford and her supporters have made it a focal point of their campaign to tie Schimel to Musk. This week, the Wisconsin Democratic Party released a new ad accusing Musk of trying to buy the seat for Schimel, who is a close ally of Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Schimel campaigned with Donald Trump Jr. at an event where the president’s son argued that electing Schimel was crucial for advancing Trump’s agenda. America PAC has been spreading a similar message in flyers handed out to Wisconsin voters.
Musk’s other organization, Building America’s Future, stated in a memo on Thursday that to defeat Crawford, it must portray Schimel as a “pro-Trump conservative.”
The new petition argues that “Judges should interpret laws as written, not rewrite them to fit their personal or political agendas. By signing below, I’m rejecting the actions of activist judges who impose their own views and demanding a judiciary that respects its role — interpreting, not legislating.”
While the petition aims to gather data on Wisconsin voters and energize them, it also aligns with former President Donald Trump’s narrative, which claims that “activist” judges are unlawfully working against him. Trump’s administration is currently involved in several lawsuits related to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which seeks to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.
