As Musk buys votes, it's time to answer which shall rule: wealth or the people?

An 1873 warning to 2025 America

In 1873, Justice Edward Ryan, chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, addressed the graduating class of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and asked: Which shall rule—wealth or man?

The enterprises of the country are aggregating vast corporate combinations of unexampled capital, boldly marching, not for economic conquests only, but for political power. The question will arise, and arise in your day, though perhaps not fully in mine: Which shall rule—wealth or man; which shall lead—money or intellect; who shall fill public stations—educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate capital?

The day has come—and on Tuesday, Wisconsinites will answer that question.

Are we feudal serfs of the richest man in the world, Elon Musk? Or are we free?

Shaped by that 1873 speech was a young Robert M. La Follette, future Wisconsin senator, who went on to renown for battle monopolies and corporate trusts—a fight that earned him the nickname “Fighting Bob.”

Today, Judge Susan Crawford is the fighter Wisconsin needs. And the battlefield is now the Wisconsin Supreme Court itself.

Amid the flood of money from Musk—roughly $25 million and rising fast—it is up to us to fight alongside Crawford to ensure that Musk’s bag man, Brad Schimel, doesn’t capture the decisive vote on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

We’ve got two more days to prepare, and then Election Day will be here. Musk will be in Green Bay tonight to campaign for Schimel. For our part, we’re flooding the zone in every corner of Wisconsin to turn out votes for Susan Crawford. I’m sending this from Wausau, Wisconsin. Yesterday, I was in Middleton, Eau Claire, and Ashland. We’re finding more voters everywhere.

Here’s how to help.

If you live in Wisconsin and haven’t voted yet, go to vote.wisdems.org to find your polling place. Wisconsin has same-day voter registration, which means you can register and vote on Tuesday.

Organizing energy is off the charts. WisDems volunteers have knocked on thousands of doors and placed millions of phone calls, smashing records set in 2023. We’ll work around the clock until the polls close to turn out yet more voters, so sign up to knock on some doors in this last sprint.

And no matter where you live, you can join a phone bank.

Spending has reached preposterous levels, easily eclipsing $100 million. Musk himself represents about a quarter of that total.

For Crawford, her support comes from more than 175,000 donors who have chipped in amounts small or large. Know someone who could help? Send them to crawfordforwi.com or wisdems.org—and the campaign can still put it to work.

Voters are furious about corruption from Donald Trump, Musk, Trump, and Schimel’s corruption. They value their freedom. They value their democracy. As Gov. Tony Evers posted on Friday, “Wisconsinites will not be bought. Our votes are not for sale.”

Let’s elect Susan Crawford and show that the people still rule in the Badger State. The polls open on election day in 48 hours. Let’s give this everything we’ve got.