Elon Musk’s America PAC, which offered Wisconsin voters $100 if they registered their opposition to “judicial activists” through a website, spent more than $27 million on “petition incentives” during the first half of 2025, according to a new federal filing.
The filing doesn’t specify that the money was spent in Wisconsin around the state’s Supreme Court race as the billionaire backed conservative Brad Schimel, who lost by 10 points.
Still, the bulk of its fundraising activity began on Feb. 18, the date of the spring primary, and wrapped up by late April after Susan Crawford’s victory secured a liberal majority through at least 2028.
One of the exceptions was the nearly $27.1 million in-kind donation listed June 30 for “petition incentives” and another $273,792 that same day for “petition processing fees.”
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WisPolitics previously tallied $115 million spent on this spring’s state Supreme Court campaign, more than double the national record Wisconsin set just two years earlier.
That included $21.7 million by the Musk-aligned PACs Building America’s Future and America PAC, according to a check of state independent expenditure reports and media buys tracked by AdImpact. The world’s richest man also donated $3 million to the state GOP, which in turn pumped $9.6 million into Schimel’s campaign.
But Musk didn’t detail in those reports the petition effort launched by America PAC that offered $100 to those who signed the petition and shared their contact information. It was seen as an effort to identify conservative voters who could be turned out for the April 1 election.
Musk also announced three $1 million awards to those who signed the petition.
The new federal filing includes those $1 million payments for “spokesperson consulant” to three people: Scott Ainsworth, Ekaterina Diestler and Nichols Jacobs.
Musk launched a similar effort in Pennsylvania last year to boost Donald Trump.
The effort in Wisconsin prompted legal challenges, including a lawsuit the progressive Law Forward filed accusing Musk of “a brazen scheme to bribe Wisconsin citizens to vote” in the spring state Supreme Court race.
Filed on behalf of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and two voters, the suit against Musk and two of his political organizations targets incentives offered registered Wisconsin voters to sign a petition, arguing the ultimate goal was to help Schimel in the race.
Yesterday’s FEC filing shows Musk gave America PAC more than $45 million during the first half of 2025, including the in-kind donations marked for the petition effort. Overall, it listed $45.3 million in receipts during the six-month period, $47.4 million in disbursements and $165,960 cash on hand.
