PHOENIX — Elon Musk's America PAC announced Monday that a Phoenix man won $1 million after signing a petition just moments after a judge ruled the sweepstakes could continue.
“As parents to two young children, we want to leave an America behind… that they will recognize… where they can grow and find jobs and raise families.” Phoenix resident Joshua, whose last name was not given, told the PAC after winning the money.
On Oct. 19, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced that he’s pledging to give away $1 million a day to voters who sign his political action committee’s petition in favor of “free speech and the right to bear arms,” or the First and Second amendments of the Constitution.
Only registered voters in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina — all critical battleground states this election cycle — are eligible for the America PAC giveaway, according to the petition website.
The final $1 million will be given to someone in Michigan on Tuesday, Musk's lawyers told a judge.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had called the sweepstakes a scam that violates state election law and asked that it be shut down. A Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday that the sweepstakes can continue.
Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — ruling after Musk's lawyers said the winners are not chosen by chance — did not immediately give a reason for the ruling, the Associated Press reported.
The winners of the sweepstakes did not win by chance but are instead paid spokespeople for the group, Musk's lawyers said in court Monday.
Musk lawyer Chris Gober said the final two recipients before Tuesday's presidential election will be in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.
"The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance," Gober said Monday. "We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow."
Chris Young, the director of America PAC, testified that the recipients are vetted ahead of time, to "feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned" with the group.
The disclosures prompted a lawyer for District Attorney Larry Krasner to call the effort a "scam" that is "designed to actually influence a national election."
Musk's lawyers, in closing arguments, called it "core political speech" given that participants sign a petition endorsing the U.S. Constitution. They said Krasner's legal bid to shut down the sweepstakes under Pennsylvania law was moot because there would be no more Pennsylvania winners before the program ends Tuesday.
The Associated Press and TEGNA's Erin Jones contributed to this report.
