Tesla CEO Elon Musk greets U.S. President Donald Trump as they attend the NCAA men’s wrestling championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 22, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Tech billionaire and White House adviser Elon Musk will head to Wisconsin days before the pivotal state Supreme Court election there, into which he’s sunk millions of dollars on behalf of the conservative candidate and become a central figure in the race.
Musk made the announcement early Friday morning on his social media platform X, where he said he would be giving out a pair of $1 million checks to people who attend his speech, with attendance limited to those who voted in the election.
It’s the latest redoubling of Musk’s efforts in Wisconsin, where he has endorsed conservative Judge Brad Schimel, a circuit court judge and former state attorney general who is also backed by President Donald Trump. State campaign finance filings show $3 million in donations from Musk to the Wisconsin Republican Party so far this year, and Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, is the top outside spender in the Supreme Court race. The group has spent more than $12 million so far, according to the latest data available through the state’s campaign finance portal Friday morning.
America PAC has also offered Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a conservative-leaning petition ahead of the election and has awarded one petition-signer $1 million, the latest large award as part of Musk’s efforts to encourage engagement with his political operations. (The group’s controversial efforts to award million-dollar prizes to rally attendees and petition signers drew legal scrutiny both from the Justice Department and the Philadelphia district attorney last year, and his new efforts have also drawn new questions. But the Justice Department never took public action against Musk, and the Philadelphia district attorney’s attempts to block Musk’s giveaway were unsuccessful.)
Musk’s heavy public involvement in Wisconsin has made him a main character in the battle for partisan control of the state Supreme Court, and it aligns with Republican efforts to motivate the base before Tuesday’s off-year election.
Trump joined Schimel in a telephone town hall Thursday, Schimel’s campaign has launched ads emphasizing Trump’s endorsement and attacking the Democratic candidate on transgender issues, and an outside group backing Schimel is airing a new ad that criticizes an unrelated judicial decision blocking the Trump administration’s deportation flights to argue that the state needs conservative judges like Schimel in power.
Democrats have responded to Musk’s efforts by trying to make him a boogeyman. A majority of registered voters in Wisconsin view him unfavorably, according to a recent Marquette University Law School poll, similar to national findings from the latest NBC News poll.
Liberal candidate Susan Crawford launched an ad this month that accuses Musk of “trying to buy Schimel a seat on the Supreme Court because he knows Schimel always helps his big campaign donors.” Crawford and the state Democratic Party repeatedly mention Musk as a foil on the campaign trail.
Musk first dipped into the race in January, endorsing Schimel in a post on X. The post came days after his electric car company, Tesla, filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin challenging a law restricting carmakers from owning dealerships — a case that could end up before the state Supreme Court.
Musk’s Wisconsin playbook mirrors how he engaged in the 2024 presidential election. His super PAC spent hundreds of millions of dollars to boost Trump, primarily on get-out-the-vote efforts like canvassing, direct mail and text messaging, as well as digital advertising — the same kinds of expenses America PAC is incurring to boost Schimel.
America PAC also gave out money to signers of a different petition, and launched a controversial $1 million giveaway to petition-signers that was unsuccessfully challenged in court. Musk also barnstormed swing states and spoke on the stump.
Musk has also been engaged, albeit to a significantly lesser extent, in another race to be held on Tuesday: the special election in Florida to replace former GOP Rep. Michael Waltz, who was tapped as Trump’s national security adviser. America PAC has spent about $76,000 in independent expenditures there, according to federal campaign finance data.
