Green Bay man who won first $1 million from Elon Musk’s PAC identified in social media posts

(This article has been updated to add new information.)

GREEN BAY ― “Scott A.” of Green Bay who was announced as the first person to receive $1 million from Elon Musk’s America PAC in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election was identified as Scott Ainsworth in a Thursday evening post on the official X account of the super PAC.

The post, pinned to the top of the X account, shows Ainsworth in front of a house holding an oversized $1 million check. The “For” line at the bottom of the check says, “Petition,” referring to how Ainsworth won the sum of money by signing Musk’s “Petition In Opposition To Activist Judges.” The post was also put up on the America PAC Facebook page.

Ainsworth ― who has voted more than two dozen times since 2015, according to state records, and this year has given $500 to the Republican Party and $350 to the Republican state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel ― declined to comment to the Press-Gazette.

However, a campaign video paid for by America PAC and posted to the America PAC X account later Friday morning highlighted Ainsworth who is shown speaking for nearly a minute about encouraging others to sign Musk’s petition and supporting Schimel. Continuing in the video to speak about the $1 million check, Ainsworth said that, “I’m looking at it as an opportunity to bless local schools, and international ministries. I’m looking at it as an opportunity to bless my family,” before concluding with his belief that, “If everyone in the MAGA movement shows up, votes for Brad Schimel, he will win.”

The Thursday announcement adds to the flurry of activity from Musk ahead of the state’s Supreme Court election that has attracted national attention. Later Thursday night, Musk announced that two $1 million checks would be personally given during his talk in Wisconsin anticipated for March 30, according to the X post to his official account. The post did not specify where in the state Musk would speak.

The South African billionaire employed the same practice of giving away money to voters during the 2024 presidential election.

Kevin Kennedy, the state’s former state elections chief, said it is “unresolved” whether what Musk is proposing is illegal.

The $1 million giveaways could be seen as an inducement to vote, making it a possible violation of the state’s bribery statutes. But he said that would not be the case if a person had already cast a ballot before Musk publicized his Sunday event.

“When it comes to prosecuting this, you’ve got to remember there has to be an intent to commit a crime,” said Kennedy, who retired in 2016. “Musk needs to say, ‘I gave this to get them to go to the polls.’”

Beyond that, Kennedy said it is not clear how people will be able to prove they voted. A “I voted” sticker doesn’t seem to be sufficient proof. The state’s MyVote website will only show if an absentee ballot had been returned.

In a statement, the spokesman for Schimel’s opponent, liberal Susan Crawford, said Musk was trying to buy off Schimel and labeled his visit a “last-minute desperate distraction.”

“Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel,” spokesman Derrick Honeyman said.

Whether Schimel, a Waukesha County judge, or Crawford, a Dane County Judge wins the only nominally nonpartisan race will determine whether the court remains in liberal control or flips back to a conservative majority.

Schimel’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, including about whether he planned to attend Musk’s event.

Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-834-4250 or jlin@gannett.com.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

Molly Beck of the Journal Sentinel contributed.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Elon Musk’s PAC identifies Green Bay man who won $1 million