Tech billionaire Elon Musk has injected himself into Wisconsin’s high-stakes Supreme Court election, personally presenting $1 million cheques to two voters at a Green Bay rally to boost conservative candidate Brad Schimel.
The Sunday night spectacle—reminiscent of Musk’s interventions in November’s presidential election—has further escalated spending in what is already the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Democrats, who currently hold a narrow 4-3 court majority, failed to block the payments despite arguing they amount to election interference.
The April 1 contest between Schimel and liberal rival Susan Crawford could shift the court’s ideological balance on critical issues like abortion and voting rights in this perennial swing state. Musk’s overt alliance with Trump-aligned conservatives underscores his growing political influence—and willingness to test electoral norms—ahead of the 2024 presidential cycle.
Why It Matters:
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Judicial Power Play: The race could flip Wisconsin’s Supreme Court to conservative control, reshaping rulings on abortion access (currently banned post-Roe) and 2024 election disputes.
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Musk’s Political Pivot: Once perceived as libertarian, the Tesla CEO now openly bankrolls GOP causes, mirroring his alignment with Donald Trump.
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Campaign Finance Gray Zone: While courts dismissed Democrats’ interference claims, the $1M cheques push boundaries of voter inducement laws.
Context: Wisconsin spent $42M on its 2023 Supreme Court race—a national record Musk’s involvement may shatter. His activism reflects conservatives’ national strategy to dominate state courts post-Roe.
The billionaire has become heavily involved in the judicial election, which is seen as an early referendum on Trump’s controversial first few weeks in the White House. He also insists that liberals will seek to use the Wisconsin court to change voting districts and thus affect future election results in the swing state, should they win.
In a speech on Sunday evening, Musk told a crowd that the vote was a “super big deal”.
“What’s happening on Tuesday is a vote for which party controls the US House of Representatives,” he declared.
“Whichever party controls the House … to a significant degree, controls the country, which then steers the course of Western civilisation,” he said, adding that he thinks the vote was “going to affect the entire destiny of humanity”.