A political action committee funded by billionaire Elon Musk is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition opposing “activist judges,” a move that comes just two weeks before a crucial state Supreme Court election. The PAC, America PAC, announced the petition in a post on X, also promising an additional $100 for each referred signer.
The petition stated, “Petition in Opposition to Activist Judges Judges should interpret laws as written, not rewrite them to fit their personal or political agendas. By signing below, I’m rejecting the actions of activist judges who impose their own views and demanding a judiciary that respects its role-interpreting, not legislating.”
The effort followed a similar campaign by Musk’s PAC ahead of the November presidential election, when the group offered up to $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the first and second amendments.
The latest campaign sparked accusations from the camp of Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race. Crawford’s campaign spokesperson, Derrick Honeyman, accused Musk of “trying to buy a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to secure a favorable ruling in his company’s lawsuit against the state..”
Tesla, the electric car company led by Musk, sued Wisconsin earlier this year over restrictions preventing it from opening direct dealerships in the state. The case could ultimately reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where the election’s outcome will decide whether the court remains under liberal control or flips to a conservative majority.
America PAC and another Musk-funded group, Building for America’s Future, have spent more than $13 million supporting Brad Schimel, the Republican-favoured candidate in the race, according to figures from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Schimel has closely aligned himself with former President Donald Trump, with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, campaigning alongside him this week. America PAC has also been distributing flyers urging voters to back Schimel as a “pro-Trump conservative.”
The petition campaign has already drawn legal scrutiny. A similar effort by Musk’s PAC in Pennsylvania last year was challenged in court, but a judge ultimately ruled that it did not violate state laws.
