Democrats launch ‘People v Musk’ ad campaign in Wisconsin Supreme Court race

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is working to tie state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel to Elon Musk with an ad campaign titled the “People v. Musk.”

The move comes as Musk’s prominence has grown in national politics for his role cutting government spending under President Donald Trump, and after groups backed by Musk have spent millions attacking Schimel’s opponent, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

The first ad from what the state Democratic Party is calling a “seven-figure” campaign references the firing of air traffic controllers and federal funding cuts initiated by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The ad repeatedly shows video of video of Musk making a straight-armed gesture on the day of Trump’s inauguration.

“Elon Musk is out of control, and now the power hungry billionaire is unloading millions to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” the ad claims.

It also claims Schimel “is for sale and will abolish the checks and balances that protect us.” It closes by urging residents to vote for Crawford.

A statement from Schimel campaign spokesperson Jacob Fischer called Democrats’ Musk ad a “mockery of hypocrisy” because Crawford has accepted support from Democratic billionaires. 

“Susan Crawford was caught attempting to sell congressional seats to out-of-state billionaires for campaign contributions, prompting the support of extremists like George Soros and JB Pritzker,” Fischer said, referring to Crawford’s participation in a call with Democratic donors advertised as a “chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.” Crawford’s campaign denied the allegation.

Musk has become heavily involved in Wisconsin’s April Supreme Court election by way of posts on his social media platform X and ads attacking Crawford from his political action committee and a conservative nonprofit he’s contributed to in the past. The groups have spent more than $4 million thus far.

Crawford says she’s ‘glad that somebody is doing something’ about Musk ads

During a Tuesday Milwaukee Press Club event, Crawford said she hadn’t heard about the state Democratic Party’s ads tying Schimel to Musk but said she’s “glad that somebody is doing something about it.”

Crawford said Musk appears to be “an unelected right hand man” to Trump and is involved in “dismantling parts of our federal government right now.”

“And I think that it’s very concerning when somebody like that wades into a state judicial race with millions of dollars in attack ads against a candidate,” Crawford said.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Political Science Professor Anthony Chergosky said a big factor in the April election is a party’s ability to mobilize voters.

“And we know that Democrats have become increasingly mobilized around the issue of DOGE and Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration,” Chergosky said.

Chergosky said it’s easy to forget that Musk is relatively new to the political scene given the prominent role he’s playing in the administration.

“But his involvement in politics has rapidly escalated to the point where now he’s playing a major role in this campaign,” Chergosky said.