Why Elon Musk and Tesla have a legal bone to choose with Wisconsin

Elon Musk is away and the biggest spell in this year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court, throwing his luck behind a conservative candidate aimed at overthrowing the liberal majority of the court.

The flood of cash – $ 20 million and counting by Mr Musk and the teams associated with him – comes as his electric car company, Tesla, sued Wisconsin for the law that prohibits vehicle manufacturers from selling cars directly to consumers. The law requires a licensee to act as an intermediary.

Tesla filed the lawsuit in January, days before Mr Musk started spending the match. He has not publicly reported the difference, but for weeks he has served as a background of the April 1 election. The case is now in court at Milwaukee County, but could proceed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the coming months.

Conservative candidate, Brad Schimel, a County Judge Waukesha, who refused to discuss the Tesla case, appeared with Mr Musk in a social media vibrancy on Saturday and returned to President Trump’s approval late last week. He faces Susan Crawford, a liberal Dane County judge supported by the Democrats of Wisconsin.

As Mr Musk started spending to help the shame Schimel, Judge Crawford and the Wisconsin Democrats have created their public messages about the idea that he is in battle with the billionaire leading the destruction of the federal government by Mr Trump.

“It is no coincidence that Elon Musk started spending this money in a few days from Tesla, who filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin,” Judge Crawford said during a television debate this month.

Mr Musk, however, can be more motivated than his new bond with Mr Trump and Republicans than the prospect of selling more cars in Wisconsin, where Tesla sells 3,000 to 4,000 cars a year to residents who have to get out of the state to collect them.

Where is Tesla’s treatment?

In March 2023, Tesla applied for licenses to open four delegations to the state. The Wisconsin Ministry of Transport has denied the request for state law prohibiting immediate car sales to consumers.

Tesla appealed to the decision and in December the Ministry of Administration of the State denied this appeal. On January 15, Tesla filed its lawsuit at Outagamie County, one of the four parties where the company had applied for delegation licenses.

Tesla’s lawyers in Wisconsin did not respond to requests to discuss the lawsuit. Josh Kaul, Wisconsin’s Attorney General, refused to interview the case. Mr Kaul’s spokesman said the state’s justice ministry would not comment.

What is the story behind Wisconsin’s law on car sales?

Since Tesla started selling cars in 2008, the company has fought with battles to bypass decades of laws on state franchise and sell vehicles directly to consumers.

The laws, the first of which were passed before World War II, prevent automakers from opening stores belonging to the company, which will compete and have prices, independent car representatives. Laws usually defend strong pressure groups representing representatives, who are often important political donors to their communities and are more likely to support Republicans than the Democrats.

Tesla is currently prevented from exploiting its own delegations in twelve states beyond Wisconsin, including Texas, where the company is based. Tesla and other automakers who do not have franchise dealers – such as Rivian and Polestar fellow companies – can still sell cars to these states, but consumers usually have to complete the market online and travel to another state to get their vehicles or deliver their vehicles. In Wisconsin, Tesla buyers usually have to travel to Chicago or Minneapolis to collect their new cars.

In about two dozen states, Tesla successfully prompted to abolish or amend franchise laws.

In Delaware, a 2023 ruling by the Supreme Court of State ended a legal battle and cleared the way for Tesla to sell cars directly to consumers in the state. In 2020, Michigan installed a lawsuit filed by Tesla, allowing the company to sell and serve the cars there, a major victory for the company in a state where large American car manufacturers are based and have significant political influence.

These Legacy car manufacturers would like to be able to sell some cars directly because some customers would prefer, but they know that the franchise system is so well established and traders are so powerful that they do not dare to try to overturn it. Also, they do not want Tesla to play with different rules and get a competitive advantage.

What is Tesla’s policy in Wisconsin?

Chris Kapenga, a Republican Senator from Waukesha County, at that time had a business permit for the rebuilding of Teslas, whom he said he made at home for fun. Mr Kapenga said in an interview on Tuesday that he had supported Pro-Tesla legislation because he wanted to increase the competition for existing state representatives who are strongly opposed.

“The representative of interest teams for the delegates says:” We need to protect consumers. Everyone trusts their car dealers and protect consumers from big companies, “Mr Kapenga said.” But if you pull the average person from the road, “

In Wisconsin and elsewhere, Tesla policy is difficult. For years, Democrats have embraced electric vehicles as a way to reduce gasoline dependence. Car dealers tend to be Republicans. And Wisconsin charges an annual $ 175 fee to electric vehicles because their cars do not contribute to state gas tax collections.

Tim Carpenter, a Democratic Senator from Milwaukee, who is sitting on his chamber of transport, said he fortunately accepted Tesla’s invitation to drive one of his cars around Milwaukee Mile Racetrack to Wisconsin State Fair Fair Park.

“People who were environmentalists tried to get the Democrats to embrace the new technology,” Mr Carpenter said. One Honda owner, Mr Carpenter was not in love with Tesla.

“It looked a little tiring,” he said.

What has Tesla do to achieve state laws elsewhere?

Tesla has made many agreements with government officials to allow them to open their own retail stores – as opposed to franchised delegations where traditional automakers sell cars – presenting itself as a company that top politicians want to see.

In Virginia, where a decades -old law remains in books prohibiting immediate car sales, the state’s motor vehicle department agreed in 2013 to allow Tesla to open a delegation. Later he agreed to more.

In 2014, Terry McAuliffe, Democrat, assumed duties as a commander with a platform to make Virginia a business -friendly capital of renewable energy. When Tesla opened her first dealership in the suburbs of Washington in 2015, Mr McAuliffe appeared on ribbon cutting.

“He was not controversial – everyone knew I was about it,” he said in an interview. “I didn’t get any blowback. Only car dealers.”

By mid -January, Wisconsin’s Republicans dealt with Mr Trump and Mr Musk for weeks to push for the election of Judge Schimel.

Eight days after the payment of Tesla, Mr Musk made his first social media position on the fight, writing on X: “Very important to vote on Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud.”

In February, a super PAC funded by Mr Musk, America Pac, began funding an excitement operation to prove conservative voters for Judge Schimel. They pay the thunderstorms $ 25 per hour and offer $ 100 to any voter who signs a report “unlike activist judges”, an attempt to detect and prove to be more wisconsinites.

So far, America PAC has spent $ 11.5 million on the race, Wisconsin Campaign Finance Records show. Building the future of America, a conservative non -profit organization that Mr Musk has previously supported, has spent $ 7.1 million on television advertising, according to Adimpact, a media surveillance company. And Mr Musk has donated an additional $ 3 million to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which is allowed by state law to transfer unlimited sums to judge Schimel’s campaign.