Elon Musk's America PAC offers Wisconsin voters $100 to sign petition opposing activist judges

Elon Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition opposing "activist judges," with an additional $100 for each voter they refer. The PAC announced the initiative Thursday in a post on X, just days before early voting began for the state’s Supreme Court election. 

The move has drawn criticism from Susan Crawford, a Democrat-backed candidate in the race, who accused Musk of attempting to buy votes. A spokesperson for Crawford’s campaign claimed Musk is “trying to buy a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to secure a favorable ruling in his company’s lawsuit against the state.”

The election between Crawford and Republican-supported candidate Brad Schimel will determine whether the court maintains its liberal majority or shifts to conservative control.

According to the Associated Press, America PAC and another Musk-funded group, Building for America’s Future, have spent over $13 million to support Schimel, based on a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice. This comes as Musk’s company Tesla sued Wisconsin over its decision to not allow the company to open dealerships due to a state law preventing manufacturers from owning dealerships. The case could ultimately reach the state’s Supreme Court.

“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud,” Musk posted on X. 

Musk has previously used similar tactics regarding the petition. Before the November general election, he offered $1 million per day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states for signing a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments. A Philadelphia district attorney attempted to block the payments under Pennsylvania law, but a judge ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove the effort was an illegal lottery, allowing it to continue until Election Day.