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Elon Musk groups have spent over $17 million in Wisconsin judge race—the most expensive judicial race in American history

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Elon Musk and his political operatives have tried to shape the closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court race in ways that are not immediately obvious but could be critical to Tuesday’s outcome.

Musk’s America PAC has sent paid canvassers across Wisconsin since early February, before conservative Brad Schimel advanced in a nonpartisan primary to face liberal Susan Crawford for an open seat on the state’s highest court, where liberal justices hold a 4-3 majority and retirement this year of a liberal justice puts majority control of the court in play.

Over the eight weeks since, canvassers are expected to have reached hundreds of thousands of potential Schimel voters, based on the more than $4.3 million alone that spending records a week before the election showed America PAC had poured into this labor-intensive aspect of the campaign.

“As I travel around the state, I’ve been hearing from quite a few folks who say they’ve got America PAC knocks at their doors,” said Brian Schimming, the state Republican chairman. “And it’s not just in the big areas.”

Though the group has been aggressive in GOP-heavy Waukesha County in suburban Milwaukee, Schimming and others report hearing that America PAC canvassers have appeared in Racine County, a blue-collar area south of Milwaukee and areas such as Sauk County northwest of Madison.

“They have been on this more than anybody,” Schimming said.

Musk played up the stakes at an America PAC event Sunday night in Green Bay, saying Schimel was in danger of losing and calling for a movement to “dragnet the state.”

“Everybody’s going to mobilize everywhere like crazy for the next 48 hours,” he said. “And I think this will be important for the future of civilization. It’s that significant. You don’t hear me saying that very often. It’s a big deal.”

He encouraged attendees to sign up at America PAC’s website to be a “block captain,” for which they could earn $20 for knocking on doors in their neighborhoods and uploading a photo as proof.

“It’s … thumbs up and hold a picture of Judge Schimel. And that’s it, and you get $20,” he said.

Though America PAC declined to discuss details of its work, the group’s commitment confirms Musk’s uniquely powerful role in Republican politics as someone working closely with President Donald Trump and willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to boost Trump and his allies.

During the 2024 presidential election, Musk, the world’s richest person, committed more than $200 million to America PAC’s work on Trump’s behalf in the seven most competitive states, including Wisconsin, where Trump won by fewer than 30,000 votes, less than a percentage point.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court comes as the court is expected to rule on abortion rightscongressional redistrictingunion power and voting rules that could affect the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. Musk and America PAC are trying to elevate Schimel, who has attached himself publicly to Trump and Musk.

America PAC representatives were working the crowd Friday at a Schimel rally in Beaver Dam, northeast of Madison. They were seeking petition signatures to oppose “activist judges.” The political action committee promised $100 for each Wisconsin voter who signed the petition and another $100 for each signer they referred.

Musk has become a Democratic target and the center of the party’s messaging against Schimel. Crawford, who is backed by liberal billionaires including George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, referred to her opponent in their debate as “Elon Schimel.”

Many standing nearby waved signs in protest to Musk.

“Musk Hates Judges Who Do Their Job!,” said one man’s cardboard sign, held over his head. The man next to him held one that simply said, “NO DOGE,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump’s government cost-cutting effort, which Musk directs.

Musk drew widespread attention with the Sunday rally in Green Bay and his $1 million giveaways to people who sign the petition decrying judicial activism. Groups linked to Musk have spent more than $17 million to support Schimel in what’s become the most expensive judicial race in American history.

A significant portion of that money is going into the tedious but critical work of voter turnout.

As of one week before the election, America PAC had spent $4.3 million on canvassing alone, according to figures compiled by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for transparency in campaign spending.

Americans for Prosperity, a group founded by anti-tax billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is also canvassing in the supreme court race and also was active in Wisconsin during the 2024 campaign. But the group also was a distant second in the Supreme Court race, having spent only about a sixth of America PAC — $712,000 — on canvassing, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

While the millions America PAC has spent on canvassing are far beyond what other groups have committed, America PAC also had spent as of last week at least another $4 million on mail, printing, online advertising, phone-banking, text messaging and other organizing costs, also far ahead of other groups.

The group was canvassing this month in Sauk County, where the presidential candidate who took the state has won in five straight elections.

Trump last year won Sauk — split between Democratic-leaning areas closer to Madison and a more conservative rural northwest — by 626 votes after Democrat Joe Biden won the county by 615 votes in 2020.

America PAC canvassers were in Sauk County knocking on doors last fall, trying to reach voters who had voted Republican in the past but had not been reliably active.

“America PAC is in our neck of the woods,” said Jerry Helmer, the county’s Republican chairman. “They were up knocking on doors in the Wisconsin Dells this month. America PAC has been doing a really good job in our area. They are just killing it in Sauk County.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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No state has ended personal income taxes since 1980, but Mississippi and Kentucky may change that

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About 45 years have passed since a U.S. state last eliminated its income tax on wages and salaries. But with recent actions in Mississippi and Kentucky, two states now are on a path to do so, if their economies keep growing.

The push to zero out the income tax is perhaps the most aggressive example of a tax-cutting trend that swept across states as they rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic with surging revenues and historic surpluses.

But it comes during a time of greater uncertainty for states, as they wait to see whether President Donald Trump’s cost cutting and tariffs lead to a reduction in federal funding for states and a downturn in the overall economy.

Some fiscal analysts also warn the repeal of income taxes could leave states reliant on other levies, such as sales taxes, that disproportionately affect the poor.

Which governments charge income tax?

The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to levy income taxes. It was ratified by states in 1913. Since then, most states have adopted their own income taxes.

Eight states currently charge no personal income tax: Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. A ninth state, Washington, charges no personal income tax on wages and salaries but does tax certain capital gains income over $270,000.

When Alaska repealed its personal income tax in 1980, it did so because state coffers were overflowing with billions of dollars in oil money.

Though income tax eliminations have been proposed elsewhere, they have not been successful.

“It’s a lot easier to go without an individual income tax if you’ve never levied one,” said Katherine Loughead, a senior analyst and research manager at the nonprofit Tax Foundation. “But once you become dependent on that revenue, it is a lot more difficult to phase out or eliminate that tax.”

What is Mississippi doing?

Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed a law gradually reducing the state’s income tax rate from 4% to 3% by 2030 and setting state revenue growth benchmarks that could trigger additional incremental cuts until the tax is eliminated. The law also reduces the sales tax on groceries and raises the gasoline tax.

If cash reserves are fully funded and revenue triggers are met each year, Mississippi’s income tax could be gone by 2040.

Supporters of an income tax repeal hope it will attract both businesses and residents, elevating the state’s economy to the likes of Florida, Tennessee and Texas. Their theory is that when people pay less in income taxes, they will have more money to spend, thus boosting sales tax collections.

The tax repeal “puts us in a rare class of elite, competitive states,” Reeves said in a statement. He added, “Mississippi has the potential to be a magnet for opportunity, for investment, for talent –- and for families looking to build a better life.”

Mississippi is among the most impoverished states and relies heavily on federal funding. Democratic lawmakers warned the state could face a financial crises if cuts in federal funding come at the same time as state income tax reductions.

The income tax provides “a huge percentage of what the state brings in to fund things like schools and health care and services that everybody relies on,” said Neva Butkus, senior analyst at the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

What has Kentucky done?

A 2022 Kentucky law reduced the state’s income tax rate and set a series of revenue-based triggers that could gradually lower the tax to zero. But unlike in Mississippi, the triggers aren’t automatic. Rather, the Kentucky General Assembly must approve each additional decrease in the tax rate.

That has led to a series of tax-cutting measures, including two new laws this year. One implements the next tax rate reduction from 4% to 3.5% starting in 2026. The second makes it easier to continue cutting the tax rate in the future by allowing smaller incremental reductions if revenue growth isn’t sufficient to trigger a 0.5 percentage point reduction.

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear signed the legislation for next year’s tax cut but let the other measure passed by the Republican-led legislature become law without his signature. Beshear called it a “bait-and-switch” bill, contending lawmakers had assured the guardrails for income tax reductions would remain in place while pushing for the 2026 tax cut, then later in the session altered the triggers for future years.

What actions have other states taken?

New Hampshire and Tennessee already did not tax income from wages and salaries, but both states had taxed certain types of income.

In 2021, Tennessee ended an income tax on interest from bonds and stock dividends that had been levied since 1929.

New Hampshire halted its tax on interest and dividends at the start of this year.

Some other states also are pushing to repeal income taxes. The Oklahoma House passed legislation in March that would gradually cut the personal income tax rate to zero if revenue growth benchmarks are met. That bill now is in the Senate.

New Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, also wants to phase out the income tax. The House and Senate have advanced legislation that would take an incremental step by exempting capital gains income from taxes.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Vietnam offers to remove all tariffs on US after Trump action

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Vietnam has offered to remove all tariffs on US imports after Donald Trump announced a 46% levy on the southeast Asian nation, according to an April 5 letter from Vietnam’s communist party.

The offer was made by party chief To Lam in a letter to the US president that was seen by Bloomberg. In the letter, Lam requested that the US not apply any additional tariffs or fees on Vietnamese goods and asked to postpone the implementation of the tariff announced by Trump last week by at least 45 days after April 9.

The letter confirms comments made by Trump on Friday on his Truth Social network, following a call between the two leaders. Vietnam, which has increasingly become a key manufacturing and export alternative to China, was slapped with one of the highest tariff rates worldwide last Wednesday.  

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Artist of ‘distorted’ portrait says Trump complaint is harming her business of over 41 years

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The artist who painted US President Donald Trump in what he criticized as a “purposefully distorted” portrait has said his remarks have harmed her business.

Colorado removed the official portrait of Trump from display in the state’s capitol building last month after the president complained that it was deliberately unflattering.

“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol… along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on March 24.

“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,” Trump said.

The 78-year-old Republican called for the oil painting to be taken down, and said the artist, Sarah Boardman, “must have lost her talent as she got older.”

The Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature said the same day as Trump’s complaint that the painting would be removed from the gallery in the capitol’s rotunda — where it had been hung since 2019 — and placed in storage.

Boardman has responded to Trump’s critique in a statement on her website, saying she completed the work “accurately, without ‘purposeful distortion,’ political bias, or any attempt to caricature the subject, actual or implied.”

“President Trump is entitled to comment freely, as we all are, but the additional allegations that I ‘purposefully distorted’ the portrait, and that I ‘must have lost my talent as I got older’ are now directly and negatively impacting my business of over 41 years,” the British-born artist said.

Boardman added in the undated statement that for the six years that the portrait of Trump hung in the Colorado capitol, she “received overwhelmingly positive reviews” on the commissioned work.

However, since Trump’s comments “that has changed for the worst,” she said.

In addition to Trump and former president Barack Obama, Boardman was also commissioned to paint a portrait of ex-president George W. Bush.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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