$43 Million Spent: Musk PAC’s October Blitz Targets Texas Senate
America PAC deployed nearly $43 million in two weeks, with $15.2 million directed at the Texas Senate race against James Talarico.
By Tomas Rahman ·
Elon Musk’s America PAC spent nearly $43 million in the first two weeks of October, injecting a massive amount of cash into the final stretch of the midterm elections. The Federal Election Commission filing, submitted on Thursday evening, shows the committee also received more than $76 million in new funds during the same period. This brings the group’s cash balance to almost $47 million as the campaign enters its last leg.
The Texas Senate contest absorbed the largest share of that expenditure. America PAC directed $15.2 million into the race, double the amount spent there during the entire summer. Of that total, $12.4 million funded attacks on Democratic candidate James Talarico, while $2.8 million promoted Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings indicate another $9.1 million was spent against Talarico after the initial report, bringing the cycle total for the Democratic candidate to nearly $28 million.
The spending shift marks a change in tactics for the committee. America PAC allocated $11.4 million to digital ads in the two-week window, a figure nearly equal to its combined spending on mail and texting. The group declined to comment on the filings.
Musk has also used his personal platform to pressure the race. On Wednesday, he wrote on X that Talarico was a creep and claimed the candidate would vote to transition children. He previously amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility. Talarico responded that the system was flawed because it allowed a trillionaire to buy a U.S. Senator.
An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted October 17 to 19, shows the race remains tight. Talarico leads Paxton 48 percent to 46 percent, within the three-point margin of error. According to Wired’s analysis, Musk has now given more than $445 million to Republican groups this cycle, making him the largest known individual donor.
Stakes extend beyond the seat itself. If Democrats take the House, committee chairs have signaled investigations into Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency and his federal contracts. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna wrote to the White House demanding scrutiny of funding for Musk’s businesses, including SpaceX’s Starshield service in Ukraine.
Source: Wired
