Musk pours $76 million into midterm push as Texas race tightens

Elon Musk has injected a fresh $76 million into the race for Congress. This cash went to his personal political committee, America PAC, during the first two weeks of October. The money aims to help Republican candidates in the final stretch of the midterms. This new funding makes Musk the largest known individual donor in the current election cycle.

The Federal Election Commission received a pre-election report from America PAC on Thursday evening. The filing details how the group handled its funds in recent days. In the first half of October, the committee spent nearly $43 million. It also entered the last leg of the campaign with close to $47 million in cash on hand. This liquidity allows for rapid spending in key battlegrounds.

The Texas Senate race consumed the largest share of this new money. The PAC allocated $15.2 million to that specific contest. This amount is double what the group spent in Texas during the entire summer. Of that total, $12.4 million went to attack ads against Democratic candidate James Talarico. Another $2.8 million supported Republican challenger Ken Paxton.

Daily filings since the initial report show even more spending. An additional $9.1 million has gone against Talarico since then. This brings the total spending against him this cycle to nearly $28 million. That figure represents about 40 percent of everything the PAC has spent to support or oppose candidates. The group also shifted its strategy toward digital platforms. It spent $11.4 million on online ads in the same two-week period. This amount is nearly equal to what it spent on mailers and text messages combined.

Musk’s total contribution to Republican political groups this cycle now exceeds $445 million. This analysis comes from a review of FEC filings. Since July alone, more than $165 million has flowed to America PAC. America PAC declined to comment on the new spending figures. The sheer scale of the funding places Musk at the center of the financial landscape for this election.

The billionaire has also been active online regarding the Texas contest. On Wednesday, he posted on the social platform X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He called the Democrat a creep and claimed without evidence that Talarico would vote to take away children to transition them. Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility.

Talarico responded to those claims on the same day. He stated that there is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator. The exchange highlights the personal nature of the campaign. It also underscores the intense scrutiny both candidates face from the public and the media.

The race in Texas remains very close. A poll from Emerson College surveyed 1,000 likely Texas voters. The data was collected from October 17 to 19. It found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent. The difference falls within the poll’s three-point margin of error. This narrow gap suggests the outcome is still uncertain despite the heavy spending.

The stakes for Musk extend beyond just winning or losing in Texas. If Democrats take control of the House, committee leaders have signaled they will investigate his role in the Department of Government Efficiency. They also plan to look into federal contracts for his companies. Representative Zoe Lofgren described the number of conflicts of interest as astounding. Unified Democratic control of Congress would pose even greater challenges for his business empire.

Silicon Valley Democrats added another target on Friday. They sent a letter to the White House demanding an investigation into restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna signed the letter. They vowed that the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk’s businesses. This move signals a broader focus on the intersection of his wealth and political power.