Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging Elon Musk's $1 million payments to voters
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
- Wisconsin's high court declined to hear a case challenging Elon Musk's million-dollar handouts.
- Musk said he'd issue the checks at a Sunday town hall ahead of a pivotal state Supreme Court race.
- Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Musk's offer violated state law.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling on Sunday, declined to block Elon Musk from giving away $1 million checks to voters at a town hall in Green Bay — in advance of a pivotal race for one of the court's seats on April 1.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, had asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court early Sunday to prevent Musk from issuing the funds to voters, hours before the high-profile event.
"This case involves an issue of great public importance that requires urgent and authoritative resolution," Kaul wrote in his filing. He requested that the court issue an injunction "as soon as possible but no later than the planned event on Sunday evening."
The ruling comes after the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Saturday denied Kaul's bid to stop Musk from making the payments. Kaul had previously been denied a request for an emergency injunction by a county court judge.
Kaul argued that Musk's planned giveaway violated a state law that makes it a felony to offer voters "anything of value" to influence their vote.
"Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote," Kaul wrote in his filing. "Yet, Elon Musk did just that."
Last week, Musk deleted a post on X where he said he'd issue two separate $1 million checks "in appreciation for you taking the time to vote." In a new post, he wrote that entry to the town hall would be limited to individuals who sign a petition "in opposition to activist judges," adding that the two recipients of the $1 million checks would be spokesmen for the petition.
The Wisconsin high court now has a 4-3 liberal majority. Tuesday's contest between liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford and conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel will decide the court's ideological direction moving forward. Musk has lined up behind Schimel.
Schimel previously served as Wisconsin's attorney general for one term and was narrowly defeated in his 2018 reelection bid by Kaul.
Musk's America PAC has spent over $12 million on the race, which is officially nonpartisan. However, as has been the case in recent years, the two parties have both lined up behind candidates in the state's Supreme Court contests. President Donald Trump endorsed Schimel, while Crawford has been backed by an array of Democrats, including former President Barack Obama.