Elon Musk offer to voters; Wisconsin attorney general sues to block

MILWAUKEE - Elon Musk offered to give away $1 million each to two Wisconsin voters, and then he deleted his social media post on X. Now, Wisconsin's attorney general has filed a lawsuit to stop Musk.

Josh Kaul filed the suit in Dane County. There, cases are randomly assigned to judges – and this one was assigned to Susan Crawford. Crawford's campaign said she officially recused herself from this case – and it will be assigned to another judge. 

Elon Musk

This fight comes just four days before Wisconsin's supreme court election. Voters will decide whether the court stays liberal or flips conservative. 

Musk offer in Wisconsin

What we know:

Musk said Thursday night, March 27 that he will speak in Wisconsin on Sunday, March 30.

His post on X said the event would be open only to Wisconsin supreme court voters. There, Musk said he would give away $1 million to each of two voters. He said it was "in appreciation for your taking the time to vote."

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Election attorney Michael Maistelman points to Wisconsin law. It says you cannot give something of value over $1 to encourage or discourage someone from voting. 

What they're saying:

"The bigger issue is giving something of value to try to encourage people to get out there and vote. Clearly, that was his intention with this," Maistelman said. "Now, can you unring the bell? I mean, he was encouraging people to vote. Because if you didn’t vote, you couldn’t show up at his rally. So, it was an exclusive event for only people who voted."

On Friday, Musk deleted the post and replaced it with the one below. 

Musk said the Sunday night event is open to those who signed the petition against "activist judges." Musk said he will hand out checks for $1 million to two people to be spokespeople for the petition. He already gave another $1 million to Scott Ainsworth of Green Bay, who signed the petition.

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The Elon Musk Founded America PAC (political action committee) is offering Wisconsin registered voters $100 for signing the petition. It does not mention candidates. It does not mention voting. But the offer only runs through 11:59 p.m. on April 1 – election night. 

Taking action

What they're saying:

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul issued the following statement on Friday. 

"The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening."

No one from Musk's PAC returned FOX6's request for an interview. 

Elon Musk

Money in the race

By the numbers:

Two Musk-linked groups have spent more than $17 million on this supreme court race.

Democratic billionaires George Soros and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have donated to the Democratic Party to help Susan Crawford.  Soros donated $2 million. Pritzker donated $1.5 million.