Elon Musk likely broke the law by giving voters $1 million, Wisconsin board says
Musk May Have Broken Wisconsin Election Law With Voter Checks
Commission Finds Probable Cause in Supreme Court Race
Elon Musk likely broke the law by – A bipartisan Wisconsin committee has determined that Elon Musk likely broke the law when he distributed one million dollars in checks to voters during the 2025 state Supreme Court contest. The Wisconsin Elections Commission forwarded two separate complaints last week to the Brown County district attorney’s office, giving prosecutors the authority to pursue criminal charges for breaching the state’s election bribery statute. District attorneys now have forty days to submit their findings back to the commission.
The motion approved by the elections commission concluded there was probable cause that Musk transgressed Wisconsin law through a social media announcement promising one million dollars to individuals who cast ballots in the Supreme Court election, with the purpose of encouraging participation in that specific vote.
Musk’s Massive Investment in Wisconsin Judiciary
As the founder of SpaceX and chief executive of Tesla, Musk played a central role in attempting to shift control of Wisconsin’s highest court. The technology magnate and allied organizations invested no less than twenty million dollars supporting Brad Schimel, the Republican-backed nominee. Despite this substantial financial commitment, Schimel ultimately fell short by ten percentage points against Susan Crawford, who carried Democratic support.
Following this decisive defeat, Musk publicly declared he would significantly reduce his political campaign expenditures going forward. The entire election cycle saw spending exceed one hundred million dollars, establishing it as the priciest judicial contest ever recorded in American history.
Legal Challenges and Musk’s Defense
The confidential complaints originated from voters residing in Milwaukee and Green Bay, the latter located within Brown County. Musk presented the checks at a Green Bay rally held just days prior to Election Day. According to commission spokesperson Emilee Miklas, the five-member panel voted five to one during a closed session on Thursday to forward the matters to the district attorney.
Three Wisconsin residents ultimately received checks from Musk, with two obtaining them personally at the Green Bay gathering. Prior to the election, Musk’s political action committee America PAC had proposed paying one hundred dollars to voters who signed a petition opposing activist judges or referred others to sign it.
Crawford’s victory preserved liberal control of the state Supreme Court, and that majority expanded to five-to-two following Chris Taylor’s win this year. Musk’s expenditures in the 2025 race have already triggered a lawsuit from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a government watchdog organization seeking to permanently bar him from offering cash payments within the state. The case remains pending in Brown County.
The motion approved by the elections commission said it found probable cause that Musk broke Wisconsin law by making a social media post offering $1 million to people who voted in the Supreme Court election “in order to induce them to vote in that election.”
The pending lawsuit contends that Musk and two organizations he finances breached prohibitions against vote bribery and unauthorized lotteries, while also constituting an unlawful conspiracy and public nuisance. Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general previously attempted to prevent Musk from distributing checks to two voters, but state courts dismissed that effort.
In legal filings submitted in 2025, Musk’s attorneys contended that the billionaire was exercising his free speech rights through the giveaways, arguing that any restriction would violate both the Wisconsin and United States constitutions. The payments, according to court documents, were “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate.”
Before the 2024 presidential election, Musk’s political action committee employed a nearly comparable strategy, pledging to pay one million dollars daily to voters in Wisconsin and six additional battleground states who signed a petition backing the First and Second amendments. A Pennsylvania judge subsequently ruled that prosecutors had not demonstrated the initiative constituted an illegal lottery, permitting it to proceed through Election Day.
