Elon Musk goes all in on Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Democrats hope it will mobilize their voters

Elon Musk has thrust himself into the center of a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. Democrats are trying to use it to their advantage.

Elon Musk has thrust himself into the center of a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. Democrats are trying to use it to their advantage. In the final stretch of the election, Musk has intensified his involvement in the contest, pouring millions of his personal fortune into the state to boost the conservative candidate, Brad Schimel. On Sunday, the tech billionaire made the trek to Wisconsin to directly pitch voters and handed out two $1 million checks to attendees at a town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “Everybody’s got to mobilize everywhere like crazy for the next 48 hours,” said Musk, who started the event wearing a cheesehead that he threw into the crowd. “I think this will be important for the future of civilization. It’s that significant.” The liberal candidate, Susan Crawford, and her Democratic allies are using Musk’s involvement to frame the race as a referendum on him, betting it will motivate voters turned off by his big spending on the race or by DOGE efforts to slash the federal government. The push comes as the April 1 contest is set to provide the first electoral gauge of voter sentiment in the opening months of President Donald Trump’s second term, in which Musk and DOGE have played a central role. The race also will test Musk’s influence on local races after he spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to aid Trump’s 2024 campaign. The matchup between Crawford, a Dane County Circuit Court judge, and Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and former state attorney general, will determine the ideological balance of Wisconsin’s high court, which currently has a liberal majority. The contest is officially nonpartisan but has attracted attention from the national political parties and will offer insight into how the swing state’s voters are assessing the early months of Trump’s second term.