Elon Musk contributed $2 million to the state GOP late last week, the latest financial commitment the billionaire has made to Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race.
It is the largest contribution ever recorded for the state GOP in the state’s campaign finance database, which includes donations dating back more than 20 years.
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On the same day the party listed the Musk donation, it transferred $1.2 million to Brad Schimel’s campaign.
State law places no cap on the size of donations to political parties, which can then make unlimited transfers to campaigns. Already in the spring race, the state Dem Party transferred $2 million to Susan Crawford’s campaign in January after collecting a $1 million donation from megadonor George Soros and $500,000 from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. And the state GOP gave Schimel $1.675 million after it received $975,000 from Beloit businesswoman Diane Hendricks and $650,000 from Illinois businesswoman Liz Uihlein.
The Musk donation was included on the party’s late contribution report, which also listed donations totaling $425,000 from Illinois businesswoman Liz Uihlein.
Two Musk-aligned PACs have been active in the Supreme Court race backing Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and former GOP attorney general.
America PAC has now reported nearly $8.4 million in expenses supporting Schimel, largely for GOTV efforts. That includes $1 million the PAC reported over the weekend in new digital ads, mail and texting.
Building America’s Future has reported $4.5 million to the state in independent expenditures. AdImpact has tracked additional ad reservations by the organization through next week’s race that put its overall commitment for the campaign close to $8 million, according to a running WisPolitics tally.
Candidates and committees are required to report donations of $1,000 or more in the two weeks between the close of a reporting period and an election.
The $1.2 million the state GOP transferred to Schimel accounted for the bulk of the donations he listed on his late contribution report.
The state Dem Party’s late contribution report filed over the weekend listed $340,475 in such donations. That includes $100,000 from California scientist Shenker Scott.
