Panel finds Elon Musk likely violated Wisconsin election law with $1 million voter giveaway offer
A bipartisan panel in Wisconsin has determined that billionaire Elon Musk likely violated state election law by offering $1 million payments to voters during the 2025 state Supreme Court election.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission referred two complaints involving Musk to the Brown County district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to pursue criminal charges related to the state’s election bribery laws. Prosecutors have 40 days to respond to the commission.
Musk played a major role in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, spending millions of dollars through his political efforts to support Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel. Despite the investment, Schimel lost to Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford by 10 percentage points in a race that became the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history, with total spending exceeding $100 million.
The complaints were filed by Wisconsin voters and centered on Musk’s appearance at a Green Bay rally days before the election, where he distributed $1 million checks to voters. The elections commission voted 5-1 to refer the matter for further review.
The commission said there was probable cause to believe Musk violated state law by offering money to voters in connection with their participation in the Supreme Court election.
Three Wisconsin residents received checks from Musk, including two who accepted them at the Green Bay event. Earlier in the campaign, Musk’s political action committee offered $100 payments to voters who signed a petition criticizing what it called “activist judges” or encouraged others to do so.
Musk’s involvement in the race was part of a broader effort to shift control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Crawford’s victory maintained liberal control of the court, which later expanded to a 5-2 majority.
The controversy has also led to a separate lawsuit from a government watchdog group seeking to prevent Musk from offering similar cash incentives in future Wisconsin elections. The lawsuit alleges that Musk and affiliated groups violated state restrictions on vote bribery and unauthorized lotteries.
Wisconsin officials previously attempted to block the distribution of some of the checks, but state courts rejected those efforts.
Musk’s attorneys have argued that the payments were part of a political advocacy effort focused on opposing what they described as “activist judges” and were protected under free speech rights.
A similar strategy was used by Musk’s political action committee before the 2024 presidential election, when it offered large cash prizes to voters in several battleground states who signed a petition supporting constitutional rights. A judge in Pennsylvania allowed that effort to continue after determining prosecutors had not shown it was an illegal lottery.
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