MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul on Friday filed a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk’s plans to award $1 million to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend.
According to court records, Susan Crawford was assigned as the judge in the case. Crawford is running against Brad Schimel in the state supreme court race. Musk has poured millions of dollars into Schimel's campaign.
“Cases are assigned randomly in Dane County. Judge Crawford will recuse from this case," Crawford campaign spokesman Derrick Honeyman said in a statement.
The Department of Justice quickly announced the Honorable David Conway will take over the case.
In the statement prior to filing the lawsuit, Kaul said the Department of Justice is committed to “ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free and fair,” that they are aware of the offer, and that they intend to take legal action to stop it from happening.
Watch: Musk to travel to Wisconsin to give $2 million to voters:
Background
In a post on X, Musk said that he plans to hold an event in Wisconsin to "hand over" $1 million each to a pair of voters who have "signed the petition in opposition to activist judges."
On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2025
To clarify a previous post, entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges.
I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul responded to the post by issuing the following statement:
“The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening.”
What's in the lawsuit?
The lawsuit, filed against Elon Musk and his super political action group, the America PAC, states:
"Wisconsin law forbids anyone from offering or promising to give anything of value to an elector in order to induce the elector to go to the polls, vote or refrain from voting, or vote for a particular person. Wis. Stat. § 12.11(1m). Musk’s announcement of his intention to pay $1 million to two Wisconsin electors who attend his event on Sunday night, specifically conditioned on their having voted in the upcoming April 3, 2025, Wisconsin Supreme Court election, is a blatant attempt to violate Wis. Stat. § 12.11. This must not happen."
Read the full lawsuit here.
High-stakes race
The post was made just days before the election that will determine ideological control of the court.
The Supreme Court race has shattered previous spending records for a U.S. judicial election and has become a referendum on Musk and the first months of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump, a Republican, endorsed Brad Schimel and hosted a telephone town hall with him Thursday night.
Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, faces Dane County Judge Susan Crawford in Tuesday’s election. Crawford is backed by a wide range of Democrats, including the liberal justices who hold a 4-3 majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and former President Barack Obama.
The retirement this year of a liberal justice puts majority control of the court in play.
Musk earlier this week said he had awarded a voter in Green Bay $1 million for signing a petition his political action committee created targeting activist judges. Musk promised $100 to any registered Wisconsin voter who signed the petition or forwarded it to someone who did.
That raised questions about whether the petition violated Wisconsin law that makes it a felony to offer, give, lend or promise to lend or give anything of value to induce a voter to cast a ballot or not vote.
Democratic response
Crawford’s campaign spokesperson Derrick Honeyman, though, called Musk's visit to Wisconsin a “last-minute desperate distraction.”
“Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and, on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel,” he said.
Crawford and her allies have accused Musk of trying to buy influence on the court given that Tesla's lawsuit could end up before the justices.
The race comes as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is also expected to rule on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power, and voting rules that could affect the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
More than $81 million has been spent on the Supreme Court race so far, obliterating the record for a judicial race in the U.S. of $51 million set in Wisconsin just two years ago, according to Brennan Center tallies.
In response to Musk coming to Wisconsin to campaign for Schimel, Crawford campaign spokesman Derrick Honeyman released the following statement:
“Elon Musk has spent more than $20 million so far buying off corrupt Brad Schimel to try and secure a favorable ruling in his company’s lawsuit. This visit is just a last-minute desperate distraction as voters are turned off by Schimel wanting to ban abortion and his failure to test rape kits. Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel.”
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