President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk are going all-in on flipping control of Wisconsin’s top court, with Trump endorsing the conservative in the race and Musk’s PAC hunting for votes by offering state residents cash for their contact details.
The burst of support comes as Trump faces his first test with swing-state voters in the April 1 election since winning a second term in November. The court is expected to decide the future of abortion in the state and could redraw a congressional map that has given Republicans six of the state’s eight seats.
Trump on Friday said on his Truth Social platform that he was backing Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge and former Republican state attorney general who is seeking a seat on Wisconsin’s high court. He excoriated the liberal in the race, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, writing “if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin.”
Groups affiliated with Musk have poured more than $13 million into Wisconsin in recent weeks in what is already the most expensive court race in U.S. history. Musk, ranked by Forbes as the world’s richest person, has put a spotlight on the race as he assists Trump with firing government workers and shuttering federal agencies through his U.S. DOGE Service.
Musk dialed up his focus on Wisconsin on Thursday when his America PAC offered registered voters in the state $100 if they provided contact information and signed a petition opposing activist judges. The PAC also offered them $100 for each registered Wisconsin voter they referred to sign the petition — but the fine print of the offer said the PAC would determine whom to pay and noted payments may not be made for months. The payment-for-data arrangement will give Musk’s team an easy way to reach a pool of voters it can bombard with messages urging them to support Schimel in the election. Turnout in Wisconsin court elections is much lower than in presidential elections, and liberals have had a large turnout advantage in recent court races. Political observers for both sides say Schimel’s best chance of success is to get voters who backed Trump in November to the polls.
On Saturday, Musk hosted Schimel on an audio live stream on X, the social media site owned by Musk. “If you look at the early voting data so far, Democrats are winning, which is not good,” Musk said…..