Elon Musk’s “America” PAC is spending $1 million backing the judicial campaign of former Wisconsin Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel in a high-stakes state Supreme Court race with implications for abortion and election integrity.
State election records show that Musk’s America PAC dropped $1 million for “canvassing/field operations” in support of Schimel, who is running against liberal Susan Crawford. Both candidates are running to replace liberal Judge Ann Walsh Bradley, whose retirement will put the ideological leaning of Wisconsin’s top court up for grabs at the April 1 election.
While judicial races in Wisconsin are officially non-partisan, Schimel is backed by Republicans and conservative groups, while Crawford is backed by Democrats and liberal groups. Currently, liberal justices on the court hold a 4-3 majority.
“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk posted on X last month.
Building America’s Future, another PAC that Musk has reportedly backed financially, is also spending $1.5 million on ads going after Crawford’s record as a judge. One spot from the group points out that she sentenced a man convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls in a pool to just four years in prison, well below what prosecutors had requested and the maximum penalty that could have been imposed.
A 7-year-old girl sexually assaulted at a pool party by a REPEAT offender. The monster faced 100 years in prison, but Susan Crawford let him off with only 4. Now he’s back on the street and Crawford wants a promotion.
Susan Crawford’s dangerous decisions are wrong for Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/YhhKxcWC2F
— Building America’s Future (@bldgUSAfuture) February 19, 2025
In response to the ad campaign, Crawford has accused Musk of “buying off” Schimel.
“I’ve never met nor talked to Elon Musk,” Schimel said on Thursday. “No one from my team has ever talked to anyone from Elon Musk’s team. He hasn’t asked me for anything, and I haven’t told him I would do anything.”
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Crawford’s campaign has been backed with hefty donations from Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, and leftist megadonor George Soros, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Soros was influential in getting liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz elected in April 2023 when leftists flipped control of the court in one of the most expensive judicial races in history.
Since that time, the court forced a redrawing of Wisconsin’s legislative maps, making them more favorable to Democrats, and overturned a previous decision that said using ballot drop boxes violated state law. The court is also expected to make key rulings on the state’s abortion laws and various election laws.
Former Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker said Tuesday that conservatives needed to win back control after a decision that blocked a challenge to the mobile voting van.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg with a 4 – 3 activist court,” he posted. “We have to win in April or Wisconsin may never be a battleground state again.”
