M
ADISON, Wis. — On Friday, Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul initiated a lawsuit aimed at stopping billionaire Elon Musk from distributing $1 million checks to voters over the coming weekend. This legal move comes just two days ahead of a pivotal Supreme Court election in the state.
The lawsuit was filed in Dane County Circuit Court, with Kaul seeking to block Musk’s announcement of handing out checks on Sunday in Wisconsin. Musk had originally shared on his social media platform, X, that he planned to “personally deliver” $2 million to two voters who had already cast their ballots.
However, Musk later specified that the money would instead go to individuals acting as “spokespersons” for an online petition against “activist” judges. Initially, he stated the event would be limited to voters from the Supreme Court race, but then changed the criteria to include only those who had signed the petition.
On the same day, Musk’s political action committee announced that the first $1 million giveaway would be awarded to Scott Ainsworth, a Green Bay local known for his support of the Wisconsin GOP and conservative candidates, including former President Donald Trump.
Roughly 12 hours after Musk’s initial announcement regarding the giveaway, he deleted the post from X, only to provide a clarification shortly after that.
Musk’s original message indicated he would be giving out $1 million checks to two voters at the event, which is scheduled just two days before an election that could significantly alter the ideological balance of the court in this critical battleground state.
“I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each as a token of appreciation for your time spent voting,” Musk’s now-deleted post declared. “This is extremely important.”
Kaul’s request to the court seeks to require Musk to stop promoting the Sunday event and to refrain from making any future payments to voters in Wisconsin. He argued that the continuously changing nature of the Sunday event suggests any payments to voters could violate state laws.
Even after the original post was removed, Kaul noted in his lawsuit that no announcements had been made regarding the cancellation of the payments.
Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk’s political action committee, declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The upcoming Supreme Court race has seen spending surpassing $81 million, setting new records for U.S. judicial elections and transforming into a referendum on Musk himself and the early days of Trump’s presidency.
Trump has endorsed Republican candidate Brad Schimel and even participated in a telephone town hall with him on Thursday evening.
“This is a very important election,” Trump remarked during the brief phone call organized by Schimel’s campaign. “While it may seem local, it’s far from it. The entire nation is watching.”
Schimel, a current judge in Waukesha County, will face Dane County Judge Susan Crawford in the election on Tuesday. Crawford is backed by a coalition of Democrats, including the liberal justices who currently hold a narrow 4-3 majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as well as former President Barack Obama. The retirement of a liberal justice this year has made the court’s control a hot-button issue.
Kaul’s lawsuit was initially assigned to Crawford but was quickly reassigned to another judge in Columbia County within minutes.
Musk’s PAC announced on Friday that it had awarded $1 million to Scott Ainsworth, a mechanical engineer from Green Bay, for signing its petition against “activist” judges. In a video posted on X, Ainsworth encouraged others to sign the petition and “vote early for Brad Schimel.”
“If everyone in the MAGA movement shows up and votes for Brad Schimel, we will prevail,” Ainsworth stated in the video.
According to campaign finance records, Ainsworth donated $350 to Schimel’s campaign this year. He has also made numerous Facebook posts since January promoting Schimel, sharing photos from campaign events, endorsements from local organizations, and posts from Trump urging Wisconsin residents to support Schimel.
Additionally, Musk offered $100 to any registered Wisconsin voter who either signed the petition or forwarded it to someone who did.
This raised questions about the legality of the petition, as Wisconsin law forbids offering anything of value to influence a voter’s decision to vote or abstain from voting.
Although Musk’s adjustments to his offer may mitigate the situation’s severity, they do not entirely resolve the legal concerns, according to Bryna Godar, a staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“The core question is whether these offers are made ‘to induce’ people to vote or attend the polls, and there are valid arguments on both sides,” she explained in an email.
Any legal challenges regarding Musk’s payments could ultimately reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Schimel, a former attorney general, was questioned about the petition on Thursday by WISN-TV.
“I actually thought about whether I should sign that petition. While I oppose activist judges, I felt it wasn’t appropriate,” Schimel remarked.
Regarding the $1 million award, Schimel added, “I’m not aware of the selection criteria.”
Crawford’s campaign spokesperson, Derrick Honeyman, criticized Musk’s planned visit to Wisconsin as a “desperate last-minute distraction.”
“Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk dictating their voting choices, and on Tuesday, they should reject Musk’s ally, Brad Schimel,” he stated.
Musk’s political action committee previously adopted a similar approach ahead of last year’s presidential election, proposing to pay $1 million daily to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.
A judge in Pennsylvania determined that prosecutors failed to demonstrate the initiative constituted an illegal lottery, allowing it to proceed until Election Day.
Musk and his affiliates have already invested over $20 million to support Schimel’s campaign, while billionaire George Soros has contributed $2 million to bolster Crawford’s efforts, alongside Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker donating $1.5 million.
This race holds particular significance as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to make decisions on critical issues like abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union influence, and voting regulations that could affect the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
Associated Press writer Christine Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report.
