Wisconsin judge won’t stop Musk’s $1 million payments to voters. Attorney general appeals
SUMMARY
Columbia County Circuit Judge Andrew Voigt declined to issue an emergency injunction to halt billionaire Elon Musk from distributing $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters at a planned Sunday rally, ahead of the state’s Supreme Court election on March 31. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, immediately appealed to the state Court of Appeals, arguing that Musk’s payments through his America PAC violate state laws prohibiting inducements for voting. Musk intends to reward petition signers opposing activist judges, also offering $100 per signature, in a race pitting Trump-backed Judge Brad Schimel against Democrat-supported Judge Susan Crawford. The contest, breaking spending records for a judicial election, will determine the court’s ideological balance, currently a 4-3 liberal majority. Musk has invested over $20 million, countered by Democratic donors like George Soros. Kaul’s lawsuit follows a prior Musk donation upheld in Pennsylvania last year.
