Musk Funds Texas Senate Ads

Elon Musk transferred more than $76 million to his political committee, America PAC, during the first half of October. The group filed the pre-election report with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. The funding supports Republican candidates in the final weeks of the midterm election cycle.

The PAC spent nearly $43 million during that two-week period. It finished the window with almost $47 million in liquid cash. Most of the new expenditure targeted the Texas Senate race. The committee allocated $15.2 million to that specific contest, which is double the amount spent there during the summer.

Within the Texas allocation, $12.4 million funded attacks on Democratic candidate James Talarico. Another $2.8 million supported Republican candidate Ken Paxton. Daily filings submitted after the initial report show an additional $9.1 million directed against Talarico. This brings the PAC's total spending against the Democrat to nearly $28 million for the cycle.

The committee also shifted its advertising strategy toward digital channels. It spent $11.4 million on online ads in the two-week window. That figure is close to the combined total for mail and texting campaigns. According to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings, Musk has donated more than $445 million to Republican political groups this election. That total makes him the largest known individual donor in the midterms.

Musk engaged directly with the Texas campaign on social media. On Wednesday, he posted on X that something was deeply wrong with Talarico. He called the candidate a creep and claimed Talarico would vote to remove children from families. Talarico responded that the political system is flawed because it allows a trillionaire to buy a senator. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely voters shows the race is a toss-up. The survey, conducted October 17 to 19, places Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent.

The outcome of the House election also matters for Musk's interests. If Democrats gain control of the chamber, committee chairs have indicated they will investigate his role in the Department of Government Efficiency. They plan to review federal contracts held by his companies. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna sent a letter to the White House. They stated that the next Congress will scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk's businesses, including restrictions on SpaceX's Starshield service in Ukraine.