Musk Injects $76 Million Into Midterm Race

Elon Musk’s personal political committee, America PAC, injected more than $76 million into the midterms during the first two weeks of October. A pre-election report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening confirmed the massive infusion aimed at boosting Republican candidates in the final stretch of the campaign.

The group spent nearly $43 million during that same two-week period. It entered the final phase of the election holding approximately $47 million in cash reserves. The Texas Senate race absorbed the largest share of the new funding. The PAC allocated $15.2 million to that specific contest, which is double the amount spent there during the summer months. Of that total, $12.4 million was directed at attacking Democratic candidate James Talarico, while $2.8 million promoted Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings indicate an additional $9.1 million was spent against Talarico since the initial report, bringing the total expenditure against him to nearly $28 million. This figure represents about 40 percent of all money the PAC has spent supporting or opposing candidates this cycle. The committee also shifted its strategy toward digital platforms, spending $11.4 million on online ads in the same two weeks. This amount is comparable to what it spent on mail and texting combined.

Musk has emerged as the largest known individual donor in the midterms. His contributions to Republican political groups this election cycle exceed $445 million, according to an analysis of FEC filings. More than $165 million of that total has gone directly to America PAC since July. The committee declined to comment on the new figures. Musk, whose companies including Tesla and SpaceX are based in Texas, has also actively engaged in the race online. On Wednesday, he posted on X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He later called the Democrat 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 quickly, stating that there is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.

The Texas race remains competitive. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted from October 17 to 19 showed Talarico leading by two points. Talarico polled at 48 percent while Paxton received 46 percent. This difference falls within the poll's margin of error of three points. The financial stakes for Musk extend well beyond the Texas ballot box. If Democrats gain control of the House, committee leaders have signaled they will investigate Musk's role in the Department of Government Efficiency. They plan to review his companies' federal contracts and what Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, described as an astounding number of conflicts of interest. Unified Democratic control of Congress would present even greater challenges for his business interests.

Silicon Valley Democrats added a new target to the list of potential investigations on Friday. They called for restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. In a letter to the White House demanding an inquiry, Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna pledged that the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk's businesses.