Musk-backed group boosts conservative judge in 'most important election' of 'new Trump era': report

Elon Musk is weighing in on a consequential state election, Politico reported Wednesday. A group that Musk funded in the past has poured at least $1.5 million into the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, and he is posting about the race on social media. The group, Building America’s Future, is set to run ads later this week.

The spending is “a sign that even as Musk races to overhaul Washington, his influence extends beyond it,” write Politico’s Jessica Piper and Liz Crampton.

“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk posted on his website, X, last month. This was in reference to the court’s ruling to allow drop boxes for absentee ballots in the 2024 election.

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The race is between Democrat-backed Susan Crawford and GOP-backed Brad Schimel, although it is ultimately a nonpartisan election. The results will decide whether the majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is conservative or liberal.

“The high-stakes Wisconsin bellwether race will be the biggest test yet for both parties — and for Musk, who spent millions of dollars to help Trump win the election and is now looking to influence politics in the states,” Piper and Crampton write.

“It feels like a very clear sign that he knows what we know, which is that this is the most important election of the new Trump era,” said Yasmin Radjy, executive director of Swing Left, a progressive group.

“Susan Crawford has nationalized this race on her own, but we can’t control what happens outside of our campaign,” Schimel campaign spokesperson Jacob Fischer told Politico.

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Musk gave to Building America’s Future in 2022, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Last year, the group was a major backer of several Republican-aligned super PACs, including two groups — Duty for America and Future Coalition PAC — that aimed to boost Trump with minority voters. It also helped fund a third super PAC, Stand For Us PAC, that spent in down-ballot Republican primaries,” Piper and Crampton write.

The Wisconsin race is important because Democrats in the state legislature drew new maps, so the makeup of the state Supreme Court could influence upcoming 2026 elections in the U.S. House.

In a statement, the Crawford campaign called Schimel “extreme.”

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“In D.C., Elon Musk has taken control of Americans’ private financial information and cut funding for hungry kids. Now, Musk is trying to buy off Brad Schimel and take over control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court so that Schimel can rubber-stamp an extreme agenda of banning abortion and cozying up to corporations,” they said.

But Schimel, a former attorney general, suggested he will not be influenced.

"Ultimately, the only answer to (the outside spending) is that the individual running for office — and frankly, this applies to all offices for the judicial or legislative or executive branch — you can't be for sale," Schimel said at a forum Tuesday. "People want to support you. It should be they're supporting you because they like the things that you stand for, not because they're buying some result."