Musk petition: $100 for Wisconsin voters who oppose 'activist judges'

MILWAUKEE - An Elon Musk-founded group backing one Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate is offering voters money if they sign a petition against "activist judges."

Wisconsin Supreme Court race

The backstory:

The spring Wisconsin Supreme Court race has already set the national record for most money spent on a state supreme court race. Some of that is Musk's money. 

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The April 1 election will decide whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court stays liberal or flips to a conservative majority. Both candidates, Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, have sparred over Musk’s role in the campaign.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel

"Let me talk a little bit now about my opponent, Elon Musk. You’ve heard of him," said Crawford. "You might have heard that Elon Musk has poured now over $12 million into this race to try to put my opponent, my real opponent, Brad Schimel, on the supreme court."

"The only way that you can deal with all the enormous money that comes into this is by making clear that you cannot be bought. That there is no quid pro quo," Schimel said.

$100 to sign petition

Dig deeper:

America PAC, a Musk-founded group, is now offering Wisconsin registered voters $100 to sign a petition against "activist judges" and another hundred bucks for referring another person to sign.

The new petition states:

"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."

America PAC petition offers $100

The petition requires voters to fill out their address and phone number. It doesn’t mention candidates. It doesn’t mention voting. However, the $100 offer only runs through 11:59 p.m. on election night, April 1.

What they're saying:

Brennan Center data shows two groups linked with America PAC and Building America's Future have spent more than $13 million supporting conservative-backed Schimel.

Liberal-backed Crawford has complained that Musk’s groups started investing in the race days after Musk's company, Tesla, sued the state of Wisconsin.

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"I’m asking you to vote for me and to make sure that we have a Wisconsin Supreme Court that’s not politicized, a constitution that's not politicized, and a court that’s operating to protect Wisconsinites and certainly not one that's going to protect Elon Musk," Crawford said.

"I’ve never met, nor talked with Elon Musk. No one from my team has ever talked to anyone from Elon Musk’s team. He hasn’t asked me for anything, and I haven’t told him I’d do anything," said Schimel.

While Democratic billionaires JB Pritzker and George Soros have supported Crawford, a Crawford spokesperson accuses Musk of resorting to "buying votes."

The Schimel campaign did not respond to FOX6's request for comment by Friday's deadline for this story.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said in a statement it's looking at all the options to challenge the Musk offer of $100. That includes the possibility of a complaint to the state or the possibility of a lawsuit.

America PAC did something similar around the 2024 election in battleground states, including Wisconsin.