Madison, WisconsinAP —
Billionaire Elon Musk may have violated Wisconsin law when he handed out $1 million checks to voters in the state’s 2025 Supreme Court elections, a bipartisan panel has found.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission last week sent two complaints to the Brown County Attorney’s Office, which could pursue criminal charges for violating the state’s anti-election bribery law. Prosecutors have 40 days to report to the commission.
Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was active in the effort to overturn the high court majority in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
The tech giant and groups it supported spent at least $20 million on Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel. However, he lost by 10 percentage points to Democratic candidate Susan Crawford.
A month after the lopsided defeat, Musk announced that he would spend much less on political campaigns. Election expenses exceeded $100 million, making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.
The complaints, which are confidential under state law, were filed by voters in Milwaukee and Green Bay, which is in Brown County. Musk handed out checks at a rally just days before the election.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission, made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, voted 5-1 in a closed meeting Thursday to refer the complaints to the district attorney, commission spokeswoman Emily Miklas said.
Brown County District Attorney David Lacey, a Republican, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.
The motion approved by the election commission said it found probable cause that Musk violated Wisconsin law by posting a social media post offering $1 million to people who voted in the Supreme Court election “to encourage them to vote in this election.”
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Three Wisconsin voters received checks from Musk, including two who received them in person at a rally in Green Bay. Two weeks before the election, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, offered $100 to voters who signed a petition against “activist judges” or recommended someone to sign one.
Crawford’s victory kept liberals in control of the state Supreme Court, and their majority grew to 5-2 after Democratic candidate Chris Taylor won this year.
Musk’s spending in the 2025 race has already led to one lawsuit filed by a government watchdog group, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which is seeking to block him from ever offering cash payments in the state again.
This lawsuit is pending in Brown County. It alleges that Musk and two groups he finances violated prohibitions on vote buying and unauthorized lotteries, and that his actions constituted an unlawful conspiracy and public mischief.
Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general sued to stop Musk from delivering the checks to two voters, but was rejected by state courts.
Musk’s lawyers argued in court papers in 2025 that Musk was exercising his right to free speech by giving away gifts and any attempt at restriction that would violate both the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.
The payments “are intended to create a grassroots movement against activist judges and not to openly advocate for or against any candidate,” Musk’s lawyers argue in court papers.
Musk’s political action committee used nearly identical tactics ahead of the 2024 presidential election, 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. A judge in Pennsylvania said prosecutors failed to prove the effort was an illegal lottery and allowed it to continue until Election Day.