Having been rebuffed by two courts in his quest, Dem AG Josh Kaul has now asked the state Supreme Court to block Elon Musk and his PAC from giving out $1 million payments this evening to Wisconsinites who have cast ballots in the spring election.
Musk dropped his original offer of giving awards to people during a rally in Green Bay in appreciation for them voting. Instead, he plans to give out two $1 million awards to those who have signed a petition opposing activist judges.
But as he did in filings with a circuit court and the 4th District Court of Appeals, pointed out in his petition to the state Supreme Court that neither Musk nor America PAC had formally announced plans to drop the $1 million payments to two voters.
In a brief filed with the court, Kaul argued that even if Musk hadn’t put up the original post, a “reasonable inference could be drawn that the offer of two $1 million payments just two days before the 2025 spring election was intended not simply to encourage people to sign a petition but to induce electors to vote.” Combining the existing offer with the original post means “there can be no serious question that the payments are intended to induce electors to vote.”
State law bars giving someone anything of value in return for voting.
Kaul is seeking: an injunction that bars Musk and America PAC from making any payments to Wisconsinites conditioned on them voting and from further promoting the million-dollar gifts.
Musk’s offer is the latest sign of his involvement in the race between liberal Susan Crawford and conservative Brad Schimel that will decide ideological control of the court. Musk and his PACs have spent more than $23 million in the race, according to a WisPolitics tally, as they have been one of the biggest spenders backing Schimel.
The current members of the court have also been involved in the race. All four liberal justices have endorsed Crawford. Meanwhile, conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley appeared at a post-debate news conference supporting Schimel earlier this month.
