Musk Pours Cash Into Texas Race
The technology magnate has allocated over seventy-six million dollars to his political committee in the final weeks before the election.
By Lucia Herrera ·
Elon Musk has injected more than seventy-six million dollars into his personal political committee, America PAC, during the first two weeks of October. This significant financial boost aims to support Republican candidates as they enter the final stretch of the midterm elections. The funding was disclosed in a pre-election report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening.
The bulk of this new expenditure has focused on the contested Senate race in Texas. The group allocated fifteen point two million dollars to that specific contest, a figure that is double the amount spent in that state throughout the summer. Of that total, twelve point four million dollars was used to attack Democratic candidate James Talarico, while two point eight million dollars went toward promoting his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton.
Recent daily filings indicate an even higher level of activity in that state. An additional nine point one million dollars has been spent against Talarico since the initial report. This brings the PAC’s total spending against him in this cycle to nearly twenty-eight million dollars. That sum represents about forty percent of all funds the group has deployed to support or oppose candidates.
The committee has also shifted its strategy toward digital platforms. America PAC spent eleven point four million dollars on online ads during the same two-week period. This digital expenditure is now close to the combined costs of their mail and texting campaigns, marking a notable change in their advertising approach.
Musk’s overall contributions to Republican political groups in this election cycle now exceed four hundred and forty-five million dollars. This makes him the largest known individual donor for the midterms. More than one hundred and sixty-five million dollars of that total has gone specifically to America PAC since July. The group declined to comment on the new filings.
The magnate has also been active on social media regarding the Texas race. On Wednesday, he posted on X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He later described the senator as a creep and claimed without evidence that Talarico would vote to take away your 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 by saying there is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.
Polling data suggests the race remains tight. An Emerson College poll of one thousand likely Texas voters, conducted from October 17 to 19, found Talarico at forty-eight percent and Paxton at forty-six percent. This gap is within the poll’s three-point margin of error.
The outcome of these elections could have significant implications for Musk’s business interests. If Democrats win control of the House, leaders have signaled they will investigate his role in the Department of Government Efficiency. They also plan to look into his companies’ federal contracts and what California Democrat Zoe Lofgren called an astounding number of conflicts of interest. Silicon Valley Democrats have also targeted SpaceX’s Starshield service in Ukraine, with Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna vowing to closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk’s businesses in the next Congress.
Source: Wired
