Musk hands out $1m cheques to voters ahead of Wisconsin Supreme Court election

Elon Musk has given two Wisconsin voters cheques for $1m (€924,275) ahead of a crucial Supreme Court election in the battleground state.

The vote on Tuesday will determine the ideological make-up of the state’s top court, four of whose seven current judges are liberal.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, had tried to prevent Musk’s payments last-minute, arguing that state laws prohibit “offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote”.

However, his legal challenge failed after the state’s supreme court unanimously refused to hear the case.

The decision came shortly before the political rally on Sunday in which Musk handed out two large cheques to people who had signed a petition against “activist judges”.

Through his lawyers, Musk, the world’s richest man, said the giveaways were not illegal.

The tech billionaire was simply exercising his free speech rights, his attorneys said, adding that the cheques were “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate”.

Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has fixed his attention on the judicial election in Wisconsin, claiming it will be “important for the future of civilisation”.

The close Trump ally has said that the court could well play a vital role in future federal elections, as it is expected to decide on congressional redistricting. Under a liberal-leaning judiciary, this process would be harmful to Republican interests, he claimed.

The entrepreneur and groups associated with him have donated $20m (€18.5m) to help their preferred candidate, the conservative judge Brad Schimel, win the race, drawing criticism from the liberal candidate Susan Crawford and her allies over Musk’s influence on the election.

Schimel, who wore a “Make America Great Again” hat while campaigning on Sunday, has promised to “reject activist judges”, in keeping with the US president's agenda.

The election has become the most expensive judicial contest on record, with more than $81m (€74.9m) spent in total.

Musk’s financial giveaways are not new. During last year’s presidential election campaign, his political action committee paid $1m (€924,275) a day to voters in swing states like Wisconsin who signed a petition supporting the first and second amendments.