MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democrats on Tuesday promised to “punch back” against Elon Musk in the race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, casting the election as a referendum on the billionaire adviser to President Donald Trump.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party announced a new $1 million-plus effort to portray the April 1 election as the first chance for angry voters to make their feelings known about what the Trump administration has been doing. The effort comes as Musk — the world’s richest person — and other Republican allies have outpaced Democrats in spending with the election just a month away.
Democrats can overcome the funding disadvantage by tapping into the “rage” that voters feel as Musk “tears the country apart,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said Tuesday.
“We’re going to punch back,” he said.
The race has enormous implications in swing state Wisconsin, with majority control of the state’s highest court on the line as it is expected to face issues that will affect abortion and reproductive rights, the strength of public sector unions, voting rules and congressional district boundaries.
But the Democratic-backed candidate, Susan Crawford, and her allies are increasingly trying to nationalize the contest against Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel by focusing on Musk, a top adviser to President Donald Trump.
Republicans and their allies, thanks largely to Musk, have opened a sizeable funding advantage in the race.
Groups backing Schimel have already spent about $12.3 million on the race, compared with just $2.8 million for Crawford, based on the latest tally from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks campaign spending.
Schimel and his allies have spent or reserved about $14 million in broadcast, cable and satellite television advertising, compared with about $13.2 million on Crawford’s side, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
America PAC, a group created by Musk, has spent $3.2 million on digital ads, mailers and canvassing to support Schimel in the Supreme Court race. Another Musk-funded group, Building America’s Future, has spent more than $2 million on TV ads attacking Crawford.
The race is expected to be the most expensive court election in U.S. history, topping the more than $51 million spent on the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Wikler announced that the state Democratic Party would be spending more than $1 million on a new effort focused on Musk that will include digital ads, billboards and town halls across the state. The first town hall is scheduled for Thursday in Sauk County, a swing county that backed Trump in 2016 and 2024 but backed former President Joe Biden in 2020.
Schimel’s campaign spokesperson, Jacob Fischer, pointed to support Crawford has received from billionaire Democratic philanthropist George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
“The attempts by Susan Crawford and the Democrats to distract the people of Wisconsin from her extreme views and the radical billionaires funding her are a mockery of hypocrisy,” Fischer said.
Wikler said that Musk is trying to buy the court seat to remove an obstacle to his personal agenda and that of the Trump administration. He cited a lawsuit that Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, filed against the state just days before a Musk-funded group started spending on the race.
The lawsuit, which could end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, challenges the state’s decision blocking Tesla from opening dealerships.
Schimel, when asked about the lawsuit last week, would not commit to stepping aside should the case reach the court. He said he knew nothing about the lawsuit and would evaluate it just as he would any other case. Crawford has made similar comments about whether she would step aside in cases involving her donors.
But when asked about Musk’s spending on the race, Schimel denied that it would influence how he would work on the state Supreme Court.
“I don’t have any agenda that I’m working alongside anyone,” Schimel said. “I’m grateful for our supporters, but they’re getting nothing except me following the law.”
