Musk Injects Millions Into Senate Race

More than $76 million flowed into Elon Musk’s personal political committee in the first half of October. This massive injection of funds was designed to bolster Republican candidates during the final stretch of the midterm elections, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening. The organization, known as America PAC, has become a significant force in the current political landscape.

The committee spent nearly $43 million during that same two week period. As the campaign enters its final leg, the group still holds nearly $47 million in cash reserves. This financial firepower allows for sustained advertising and outreach efforts in key battleground states across the country.

The Texas Senate race absorbed the largest share of this new spending, drawing $15.2 million. This amount is double what the PAC spent in that specific race throughout the summer. Of that total, $12.4 million was allocated to attack ads targeting Democratic candidate James Talarico. Another $2.8 million went toward promoting his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton.

Recent daily filings indicate an additional $9.1 million was spent against Talarico. This brings the PAC’s total expenditure against the Democratic candidate to nearly $28 million for the cycle. That figure represents about 40 percent of everything the group has spent to support or oppose candidates so far. The PAC also shifted its strategy toward online platforms, spending $11.4 million on digital ads in two weeks. This digital spend is close to what was spent on mail and texting combined.

Musk has contributed more than $445 million to Republican political groups in this election cycle. This makes him the biggest known individual donor in the midterms. More than $165 million of that total has gone directly to America PAC since July. The committee declined to comment on the new filings.

Musk, who has major companies like Tesla and SpaceX based in Texas, has also actively promoted the race on social media. On Wednesday, he posted on X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He later called the candidate a creep and claimed without evidence that Talarico would vote to take away kids and transition them. Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility. Talarico responded by stating there is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.

The Texas race remains a toss-up. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted from October 17 to 19 found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent. This margin is within the poll’s three point error range. The stakes for Musk extend beyond Texas, as Democratic control of the House could trigger investigations into his role in the Department of Government Efficiency and his companies’ federal contracts.

California Democrat Zoe Lofgren described the number of conflicts of interest as astounding. Unified Democratic control of Congress would pose even greater challenges for Musk. Silicon Valley Democrats added another target on Friday, focusing on restrictions for SpaceX’s Starshield service in Ukraine. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna vowed in a letter to the White House that the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk’s businesses.