Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

A dark money group backed by Elon Musk has reportedly began buying TV ad time in Wisconsin, with $670,000 purchase on Monday for ads expected to support conservative state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) records showing that Musk’s group Building America’s Future made the purchase to air ads on Wisconsin TV stations in the coming weeks in markets like Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay. The buys are also expected to increase as the April 1 election between Schimel and Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford.

During an event in Jefferson County last Tuesday, Schimel expressed hope that large groups like Musk would begin to “take some pressure off.”

“I’m hoping that very soon we’re going to start seeing friends like Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Fair Courts America, other groups like that — that very soon they’re going to get on the airwaves and help take some pressure off,” Schimel said, according to a recording obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

Fair Courts America is a super PAC funded by GOP mega donor Richard Uihlein, who donated tens of millions to help elect President Donald Trump last year. The Sentinel also reported that Fair Courts has purchased nearly $200,000 worth of air time in Wisconsin and that Uihlein’s wife Elizabeth has donated $650,000 to the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Crawford’s spokesman Derrick Honeyman accused Musk of buying off Schimel in a statement.

“Musk is trying to buy off Brad Schimel and take over control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court so that Schimel can rubber-stamp an extreme agenda of banning abortion and cozying up to corporations,” Honeyman said. “It’s not surprising that Schimel is groveling for the support of shady special interests — he’s already been caught begging on his knees for far-right donors to give him cash, and now Elon seems to be answering his pleas.”

Schimel’s office did not respond to a request to comment for this story.

Last month, Musk drew 15.6 million views on an X post calling on Wisconsin to vote for Schimel to “prevent voting fraud.”

Since announcing his candidacy, Schimel has refused to condemn the Trump administration’s sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 convicts, including many who assaulted police officers. The former state attorney general also pontificated about the need for “another bloody revolution” in the United States because of socialism while speaking at a meet-and-greet in Adams County last July. Schimel complained that under socialism, only a “handful of people who have all the money and all the power.”

According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth rests at $392 billion, making him the richest person on Earth by far. During the last election cycle, Musk spent a reported $290 million to help elect Trump to the White House.