Musk political group takes on local races and new targets

America PAC has spent big in Wisconsin and is exploring Nevada; Musk has business interests in both states

Elon Musk spoke in October at an event hosted by his America PAC to support then-candidate Donald Trump. Photo: Ryan Collerd/AFP

As Elon Musk’s government-shrinking operation slashed its way through federal agencies across Washington this month, one of his top lieutenants turned his attention to a smaller political arena, more than 2,000 miles away.

Chris Young, the top political strategist to Elon Musk who is also a senior adviser at Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, joined a video call last week with a Nevada political consultant to discuss how Musk’s America PAC could help turn Nevada’s seven-seat Clark County Commission Republican and shape the political landscape in Nevada, people familiar with the call said.

After spending hundreds of millions of dollars backing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, America PAC is now exploring local races.

Republican candidates across the country are wooing the group for support for the 2026 midterm elections and other political efforts. In Georgia, gubernatorial candidates have asked the group to play a role in that race, according to people familiar with the outreach. In other 2026 battleground states, including Arizona, Senate candidates have also reached out to the group.

One of the first tests of Musk’s local influence will come on April 1 in Wisconsin, where America PAC and another political nonprofit associated with Musk have spent more than $12 million to support Republican Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, through both ads and hundreds of thousands of door-knocks.

On Thursday, America PAC announced it would give $100 to registered Wisconsin voters who signed or referred others to sign a petition “rejecting the actions of activist judges.” Musk offered a nearly identical bonus in battleground states before the presidential election last fall.

People protesting Musk outside a Tesla dealership in Los Angeles this month. Picture: Frederic J. Brown/ AFP

Musk has worked to position himself as a central figure in the Wisconsin race, with a script that repeatedly encourages door-knockers to mention Musk’s name, according to a copy of the script given to door-knockers that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

“Can President Trump and Elon Musk count on you to vote for Brad Schimel?” the script reads. It encourages people to vote early and to “keep these radical judges from ruining America and stopping the implementation of the America First agenda.”

Schimel’s opponent, Susan Crawford, has also highlighted Musk’s role in the race. “Elon Musk is trying to buy Schimel a seat on the Supreme Court,” one of her ads says.

Schimel is trailing in the state, according to polling released by America PAC. Musk has previously said he wants to unseat liberal lawmakers, district attorneys and judges, and model himself as something of a counterweight to George Soros, the investor whose support for liberal and Democratic causes made him a lightning rod for conservatives.

Officials at the PAC say they are inundated with proposals from candidates who want Musk’s money, but they have made few decisions on where to write big checks, including whether to wade into next year’s Clark County Commission race or the governor’s race in Georgia.

“It’s nice to have somebody on our side of the ledger that’s doing that,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said.

Through a spokesman, Young declined to comment. Musk didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for America PAC declined to comment.

Musk business interests

Musk’s companies also have business interests at stake in the races his group has targeted.

Musk’s tunneling outfit, the Boring Co., recently clashed with officials in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and three-quarters of Nevada’s population, over permits for a local project. Young’s meeting didn’t touch on Boring, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Commission has been a staunch ally of the project, which is called the Vegas Loop and aims to build 68 miles of tunnels filled with Teslas to ferry passengers beneath the city. It voted nearly unanimously to approve the Loop’s expansion. Still, some tensions have emerged. The county has pushed for additional fire-safety requirements in recent months in Boring’s new tunnel down a major hotel strip, according to permitting documents. Discussion over those measures has meant construction is moving more slowly than Boring would wish, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The seven-member Commission, which currently has only one Republican, appoints and can remove the county manager, who oversees the building and fire departments. Three Commission seats, all held by Democrats, are up for election next year. Two of those seats are in competitive districts.

Clark County “is a political powerhouse in the state, and it has been for 30 years,” said Jim Ferrence, a Democratic political strategist who has managed Clark County Commission campaigns. If Musk decides to enter the race, Ferrence said, he would be following a path trodden by another billionaire GOP donor who attempted to tilt the Clark County Commission right, Sheldon Adelson.

Boring didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Elon Musk steps off Air Force One upon in Morristown, New Jersey, on Saturday. Picture: AFP

Musk has tested the waters with local races in the past. Last year in Texas, home to his Tesla, SpaceX and X businesses, he secretly channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars into an unsuccessful effort to unseat a prosecutor in Travis County who had won the office with the backing of Soros.

Musk also made the largest contribution that the Judicial Fairness PAC received last year for Texas court of appeals races, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In Wisconsin, too, one of Musk’s companies might benefit from his involvement in the state Supreme Court race.

Wisconsin is one of many that restricts auto manufacturers including Tesla from selling vehicles directly to consumers. Last year, a judge denied Tesla’s petition to open four dealerships in the state. Tesla appealed that ruling, and the case could end up in front of the state Supreme Court.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court currently has a one-member liberal majority. If Schimel is elected, the court will skew conservative ahead of decisions on the right to an abortion and legislative redistricting.

Schimel, a former state attorney general and current county judge, has said he isn’t influenced by Musk’s support.

In a recent interview with the Journal, Schimel said that if Musk is “looking for someone that’s going to give him an automatic win on his cases, he might be supporting the wrong guy.”

The Wall Street Journal