Elon Musk held a rally in Green Bay, WI, in support of Judge Brad Schimel on March 30. Musk stated prior that he would choose two attendees to receive $1 million each, and entries to receive the money were limited to those who signed a petition in opposition of activist judges. The event was sponsored by Musk’s America PAC, one of two political action committees with ties to him.
Musk has already spent $20 million on Schimel’s campaign, but his funding has not been enough to outraise the opposing candidate, Judge Susan Crawford. “We actually are in serious danger of losing the election,” Musk said. “We’ve got to pull a rabbit out of a hat.”
The winners of the giveaway include Nicholas Jacobs, chairman of the Wisconsin College Republicans, and Ekaterina Diestler, a Graphic Design Prepress Specialist.
This is not the first time that Musk has given away money to sway voters. He gave away millions of dollars to people who registered to vote in the 2024 Presidential Election in several swing states.
After the original announcement of Musk’s giveaway, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a court order to stop Musk from giving out money to voters, stating that doing so violates Wisconsin’s bribery statute. “Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” Kaul argued in his filing. “Yet, Elon Musk did just that.”
Kaul’s lawsuit was initially filed in Dane County Circuit Court, where it was assigned to Crawford, who is a judge in the county. Her campaign issued a statement saying that cases in the county are randomly assigned, and Crawford would recuse herself from hearing the complaint.
According to the court system’s website, the case was reassigned to Columbia County Judge Andrew Voigt. Minutes before the rally started, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Kaul’s order unanimously, with no rationale for their decision.
The race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is very important, as the winning candidate will most likely influence abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting rules that could affect the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election in the state.
After the town hall, Judge Crawford released a statement: “There’s a reason why Elon Musk cares about this race and why he’s in Wisconsin today: He knows Brad Schimel is for sale and is incapable of being the fair and impartial justice our state deserves. Brad Schimel has always looked out for his campaign donors, even giving a sweet plea deal to a child predator after the man’s lawyer gave him thousands in campaign cash. If elected, Schimel would guarantee Musk’s companies have favorable rulings and he’ll rubber stamp an extreme agenda that includes banning abortion, restricting voting rights and stripping health care coverage. On Tuesday, Wisconsin will choose common sense, fairness and integrity by electing Judge Susan Crawford.”