Judge election in Wisconsin Stress test for Trump and Musk - Tesla boss hands out checks as a precaution
While it is only a regional court vacancy, Tuesday's election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court has significance far beyond the Midwestern state.
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- Tuesday's election in Wisconsin will determine one of the seven judgeships on the regional Supreme Court.
- On his Truth Social platform, Trump insults the Democratic candidate Crawford as a "radical left-wing Democrat" who wants to let criminals into the USA.
- Meanwhile, Elon Musk handed over two million-dollar cheques to guests at an event in the city of Green Bay who, according to him, had signed a petition against "activist judges".
The tech multi-billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk even went so far as to attribute the election with significance for the "entire fate of humanity" during an appearance at the weekend.
Even if this may be a gross exaggeration, the election of the judge certainly has a significance that extends as far as Washington. One of the reasons for this is that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is due to make important decisions on the composition of electoral districts and election rules that could have an impact on the US congressional elections in a year and a half.
Wisconsin is a "swing state" in which sometimes the Republicans and sometimes the Democrats win elections. The election of the judge is therefore also seen as an indicator of how the electorate approves of the policies of President Donald Trump and his advisor Musk to date - and, above all, how they judge the dismantling of federal agencies carried out by Musk and his government department for government efficiency (Doge).
Musk waves banknotes
Musk has become heavily involved in the judge's election campaign - and, as in last year's presidential election campaign, in which he supported the Republican Trump with donations of almost 280 million dollars (around 260 million Swiss francs), has once again used his wallet.
At his campaign appearance in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Sunday, the Tesla and SpaceX boss handed out cheques for one million dollars each to two citizens who supported a petition he had launched against "activist judges" - an action that the Wisconsin Attorney General had previously tried in vain to stop in court.
During the election campaign, Musk offered every citizen in Wisconsin 100 dollars for signing his petition. His cash offers were aimed at mobilizing support for the election of the conservative Supreme Court candidate. Musk and Trump regularly denounce judges who get in their way with their decisions as "activist".
Illegal vote buying
The Democrats in Wisconsin denounced Musk's gifts of money as illegal vote-buying. Musk had already launched a similarly controversial campaign with one-million-dollar cheques during the 2024 presidential election campaign in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
One of the seven judgeships on the regional Supreme Court will be awarded in Tuesday's election. The outcome of the election will determine whether the court retains its current left-liberal majority or becomes more conservative in future. The rival candidates are the left-liberal district judge Susan Crawford and the conservative district judge Brad Schimel, who is supported by Musk and Trump.
Trump rages on Truth Social
The president intervened in the election campaign via online messages: On his Truth Social platform, he insulted Crawford as a "radical left-wing Democrat" who wanted to let criminals into the USA. Trump also emphasized that the election could have "a lot to do with the future of our country".
Musk made similar comments at his campaign appearance in Green Bay, where he wore a hat in the shape of a wheel of cheese - Wisconsin has a long tradition of cheese production and the cheese hat is part of the outfit of fans of the Green Bay Packers football team.
On the campaign stage, Musk referred to the Republicans' narrow majority in the US House of Representatives and the importance of Wisconsin in the election to the House of Congress in November 2026. The majority in the House of Representatives, in turn, "controls to some degree the country, which then controls the course of Western civilization" - which is why he believes that the election of judges in Wisconsin affects "the entire destiny of humanity".
Musk stirs up panic - and thinks of his business
Aside from the fact that Musk, for once, minimized the president's powerful role in the constitutional structure, his dramatic rhetoric echoed Republican warnings that a left-liberal dominated Supreme Court could carve up Wisconsin's electoral districts in a way that would benefit Democrats.
Judge candidate Crawford, however, accuses Musk of actually pursuing Tesla's interests in Wisconsin. Musk's electric car company is arguing that car companies should also be allowed to operate dealerships, which is prohibited in Wisconsin. The case could therefore end up in the Supreme Court there.
Trump has made Musk his most important government advisor. However, the world's richest man's course of austerity has sparked a great deal of outrage in the country, even in conservative circles - an anger that has been vented in attacks on Tesla vehicles, among other things. The election in Wisconsin could now provide important clues as to how far the anger towards Musk goes and whether it will also harm Trump.
