Elon Musk tops $445 million in US midterm elections for GOP | Today’s news
With a new infusion of cash to his super political action committee in the first two weeks of October, Elon Musk has now given more than $445 million in the current election cycle, making him one of the groups’ biggest contributors.
The world’s richest man poured $77 million into America PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings, in an effort to elect Republicans in November’s midterm contests.
America PAC spent $43 million over the same period and ended up with $46.5 million in cash. Since August, it has spent a total of $43.2 million on campaigning and $8.8 million on digital media and text services to contact voters.
Musk’s giving this cycle puts him well ahead of other major political donors, including hedge fund manager George Soros, a perennial major contributor to Democrats, and Republican supporters such as quant trader Jeffrey Yass and Uline co-founder Richard Uihlein.
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He has a lot at stake on the outcome of the midterm elections. Musk’s overlapping empire of companies — which includes SpaceX, Tesla Inc., the Boring Company and Neuralink — is heavily subject to regulation by federal agencies. Its planned merger of the first two companies will be subject to regulatory scrutiny. And his role as head of DOGE, an effort to reshape the federal government, could take center stage on Capitol Hill if Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
America PAC’s biggest spender in the midterms was in the Texas Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, where it spent $33.1 million. In September, Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC supporting GOP candidates for the upper house of Congress. SLF transferred that money to Texas PAC, an affiliate that focuses on the Texas Senate race. The Texas PAC has spent $181 million on the contest since 9/11.
That money helped Paxton stay competitive with Talarico, who proved to be an amazing fundraiser.
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Talarico made Musk a problem in the closing days of the race. His campaign released a minute-long ad online that said Musk’s money was behind many of the attacks on Talarico and accused Musk of trying to buy his own U.S. senator. Musk used his social media megaphone to criticize Talarico, deriding the candidate as a “scumbag.”
In total, Musk’s America PAC has spent $71 million supporting Republicans in midterm elections, including high-profile Senate races in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Maine. He also doled out money to more than 30 competitive House districts, joining the GOP’s efforts to retain majorities in both houses of Congress.
America PAC spent $9.4 million on the Ohio Senate race between Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Jon Husted. It also spent $8.6 million in the Michigan race where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers.
Much of his spending in these and other contests was for phone calls, text messages and printed materials such as mailers and door hangers. For example, in New York’s lower Hudson Valley, where Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is running against Democrat Cait Conley, some homes received door hangers paid for by America PAC. The emails read “The Socialist Left is Destroying America” and include a collage of pictures of Conley, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.
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Musk’s donations extend the large financial advantage the Republican Party already enjoys over Democrats. Trump, the GOP and its congressional super PACs raised $2.1 billion by the end of the third quarter, surpassing the $1.3 billion raised by the respective Democratic committees. The cash advantage is one bright spot in a difficult election environment for the GOP.
Musk has a net worth of $905.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, contributed about $80 million in September and October to help Democrats in the midterms.
