Elon Musk’s Meddling in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race is Just the Latest Escalation in 50 Years of Conservative Efforts to Capture the Judiciary
$1 Million Checks Show How Susceptible the Judicial System is to Right-Wing Corruption
Green Bay, WI — At a town hall on Sunday, Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters who cast their ballots for MAGA’s preferred judicial candidate, Brad Schimel, in the upcoming state Supreme Court election. Musk, along with other right-wing groups and wealthy allies, has spent more than $20 million to support Schimel. Despite Wisconsin law prohibiting the exchange of anything of value in return for votes, the state Supreme Court refused to hear an attempt by Wisconsin’s attorney general to stop Musk from handing out the checks.
“The fact that a critical state Supreme Court election is this susceptible to the corrosive influence of an unelected, unaccountable billionaire shows how deeply broken our judicial system has become,” said United for Democracy Senior Advisor Meagan Hatcher-Mays. “Although this is a particularly egregious example of a billionaire trying to control the judicial system, well-financed right-wing operatives have been meddling in the courts and installing far-right ideologues to do their bidding for decades, from Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society to Elon Musk today. Musk’s involvement shows just how important our courts are, from state courts to the federal judiciary — he wouldn’t be trying to buy this election if they weren’t. Republicans haven’t taken their eye off the courts for 50 years, and we can’t either. Voters deserve courts that work for everyone, not just the billionaire class who want to buy favorable legal outcomes. We deserve courts that are on our side.”
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About United for Democracy
United for Democracy is a diverse and growing coalition of more than 100 grassroots organizations, labor unions, and advocates for reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, the environment, workers rights and more, all representing tens of millions of Americans. The new nationwide campaign launched to educate Americans about the impact today’s Supreme Court is having on their lives, freedoms, and democracy — and call on Congress to rein in its unchecked powers.