MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday clarified his reasons for visiting Wisconsin two days ahead of its hotly contested Supreme Court election after deleting a social media post saying he planned to “personally hand over” $2 million to a pair of voters who have already cast their ballots in the race.
Musk later posted a clarification, saying the money will go to people who will be “spokesmen” for an online petition against “activist” judges. After first saying the event would only be open to people who had voted in the Supreme Court race, he said attendance would be limited to those who have signed the petition.
The change in direction came amid calls for an investigation into whether Musk’s actions were a felony under Wisconsin law, which prohibits giving anything of value in exchange for a vote.
Musk deleted the post from his social media platform, X, about 12 hours after he initially posted it late Thursday night. He issued the clarification about an hour later.
He had posted that he planned to give $1 million each to two voters at the event on Sunday, just two days before the election that will determine ideological control of the court in the battleground state.
“I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote,” Musk’s now deleted post said. “This is super important.”
The Supreme Court race has shattered previous spending records for a U.S. judicial election and has become a referendum on Musk and the first months of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump, a Republican, endorsed Brad Schimel and hosted a telephone town hall with him on Thursday night.
“It’s a very important race,” Trump said in brief remarks by phone, in a call organized by Schimel’s campaign. “I know you feel it’s local, but it’s not. It’s really much more than local. The whole country is watching.”
Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, faces Dane County Judge Susan Crawford in Tuesday’s election. Crawford is backed by a wide range of Democrats, including the liberal justices who hold a 4-3 majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and former President Barack Obama. The retirement this year of a liberal justice puts majority control of the court in play.
Musk’s political action committee said Friday that it had awarded $1 million to Scott Ainsworth, a mechanical engineer from Green Bay, for signing its petition protesting against “activist” judges. In a video posted on X, Ainsworth encouraged people to sign the petition and “get out and vote early for Brad Schimel.”
“If everyone in the MAGA movement shows up and votes for Brad Schimel, we will win,” Ainsworth said in the video.
Ainsworth donated $350 to Schimel’s campaign this year, campaign finance records show.
Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk’s political action committee, declined to say whether Ainsworth was one of the two who would be receiving $1 million on Sunday.
Musk promised $100 to any registered Wisconsin voter who signed the petition or forwarded it to someone who did.
That raised questions about whether the petition violated Wisconsin law that makes it a felony to offer, give, lend or promise to lend or give anything of value to induce a voter to cast a ballot or not vote.
Any legal challenge to Musk’s payments could end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
A bipartisan coalition of government watchdog groups and former office holders, along with a liberal Madison law firm, asked the Wisconsin attorney general and the Milwaukee County district attorney to investigate the $1 million payment and the offer of $100 for signing the petition.
The group, in its letter sent Thursday night, said the payments appear to violate the state law against election bribery.
Attorney General Josh Kaul and Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern did not immediately return messages Friday seeking comment.
Schimel, a former attorney general, was asked about the petition on Thursday by WISN-TV.
“I, frankly, thought, ‘Should I sign that petition? I’m against activist judges, but I don’t think I should do that,’” Schimel said.
When asked about the $1 million award, Schimel said, “I don’t know what the criteria to get it was.”
Crawford’s campaign spokesperson Derrick Honeyman, called Musk’s announced visit to Wisconsin a “last-minute desperate distraction.”
“Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and, on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel,” he said.
Musk’s political action committee used a nearly identical tactic before the White House election last year, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.
During last year’s presidential race, Philadelphia’s district attorney sued in an attempt to stop the payments under Pennsylvania law. But a judge said prosecutors failed to show the effort was an illegal lottery and allowed it to continue through Election Day.
Musk and groups he funds have already spent more than $20 million in an effort to elect Schimel, while billionaire George Soros has given $2 million to bolster Crawford, and Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has donated $1.5 million.
Musk got involved in the race just days after his electric car company, Tesla, filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin in an effort to open dealerships in the state.
Crawford and her allies have accused Musk of trying to buy influence on the court given that Tesla’s lawsuit could end up before the justices.
The race comes as the Wisconsin Supreme Court is also expected to rule on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting rules that could affect the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
Wisconsin is one of a handful of true battleground states, which only intensifies the focus on court races where rules for voting will be decided. Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 and 2024 by less than a percentage point, but he lost it in 2020 by a similar margin. Five of the past seven presidential elections in the state have been decided by less than a percentage point.
More than $81 million has been spent on the Supreme Court race so far, obliterating the record for a judicial race in the U.S. of $51 million set in Wisconsin just two years ago, according to Brennan Center tallies.
