Musk spends millions in Wisconsin campaign. It raises questions about Kansas judiciary | Opinion

Do Kansans want Elon Musk to buy their state Supreme Court?

It’s not an idle question. Musk — the world’s richest man, and de facto co-president to Donald Trump — is currently pouring a ton of money into the campaign for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Liberals hold a 4-3 advantage on the seven-member court, but Musk is betting that his giant wad of cash can tip the balance.

And why not?

Musk spent a reported $290 million to give Donald Trump a slim victory in the November presidential election, after all. That’s a pittance of his reported net worth of around $350 billion.

Pocket change, really.

The investment paid off nicely: Musk now wields immense power over the U.S. government, and is using that power to slash services — air traffic control, weather forecasting, Social Security and so much more — which mostly go unnoticed but also profoundly affect the lives and well-being of millions of Americans.

They don’t seem to love it. Musk has an approval rating of just 34% in the most recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll.

Being rich means never having to worry about what the little people think, though. So Musk isn’t slowing down. Instead, he’s expanding his efforts — and turning his attention and riches to the Badger State.

Which is apparently business as usual in Wisconsin.

“He is not the first far-right billionaire to pour money into a Wisconsin Supreme Court election,” Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, told The Guardian.

Sounds bad. But what does this have to do with Kansas?

Well, right now Sunflower State Republicans are pushing hard to change the way the Kansas Supreme Court is chosen — away from the current “merit-based” process that ends with the governor choosing justices from a short list of nominees, replacing it with regular elections that will almost certainly be dominated by deep-pocketed gazillionaires.

You know. Like Elon Musk.

Ty Masterson: ‘politics where they belong’

Republicans argue that shifting to an elected-justice system would simply rip the mask off what is already a political process.

“It’s putting politics where they belong,” Senate President Ty Masterson said last week, in remarks reported by the Kansas Reflector. “They’re going to tell you, ‘Oh, it’s putting politics in the system.’ Politics are in the system. That’s the worst kind of politics. It’s veiled. It’s in the black box, you know, behind the closed door.”

He’s not entirely wrong.

Kansas justices are currently selected by the governor, who chooses from three names submitted by the nine-member Supreme Court Nominating Commission. The commission includes two members — one lawyer and one non-lawyer — from each of the state’s four congressional districts. The non-lawyers are appointed by the governor, while the attorneys are elected by their colleagues.

Everybody involved is politically connected, naturally. No point pretending otherwise.

Let’s be honest here, though: There’s politics and there’s politics.

The current system may involve some glad-handing, but it doesn’t leave much room for outsider billionaires — folks whose interests aren’t always shared by Kansans — to wander in and distort the process with their riches.

That does happen all the time in states where justices are chosen through elections. And it’s a bipartisan affair. Yes, Musk is pouring his cash into the Wisconsin race. So is George Soros, the Democratic “megadonor” and all-purpose Fox News bogeyman.

Neither is a Wisconsin resident, last I checked.

A reminder: We’ve arrived at this moment in Kansas because Republicans are cranky that the independent judiciary has proven to be, well, independent.

The Kansas Supreme Court declared a few years back that the state constitution recognizes a right to abortion. After that, Republicans tried to get voters to change the state constitution so they could take away those rights. They failed. So now they’re trying a different route to get what they want.

The good news? Kansas voters will have to approve any changes to the court selection process. They’ll have the final word on whether out-of-state billionaires can buy justice in the Sunflower State. Do they really want Elon Musk and his wealthy friends in charge of our judiciary? We’ll find out soon enough.