Musk Doubles Down on Texas with $76 Million Midterm Push

Elon Musk has injected more than $76 million into his personal political committee, America PAC, during the first two weeks of October. According to a pre-election report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening, this substantial boost is intended to support Republican candidates in the final stretch of the midterm elections.

The committee has already deployed nearly $43 million of those fresh funds in the last fortnight. As it enters the final phase of the campaign, the group holds almost $47 million in cash. This liquidity allows for aggressive spending in the days leading up to Election Day.

The Texas Senate race has absorbed the majority of these new expenditures. The committee poured $15.2 million into that single contest, which is double the amount spent there throughout the summer. Of that total, $12.4 million was used to attack Democratic candidate James Talarico, while $2.8 million went to promoting Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings indicate an additional $9.1 million has since been spent against Talarico, bringing the total cycle spending against him to nearly $28 million. This figure represents about 40 percent of everything the committee has spent on candidates this cycle.

The committee has also shifted its strategy toward digital platforms. It spent $11.4 million on online ads in the same two-week period. This amount is close to the combined total spent on mail and texting campaigns, marking a significant pivot in outreach methods.

Overall, Musk has provided more than $445 million to Republican political groups this election cycle. According to an analysis of FEC filings, he is the largest known individual donor for the midterms. More than $165 million of that total has gone directly to America PAC since July. The committee declined to comment on the new filings.

Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX are headquartered in Texas, has actively engaged in the race on social media. On Wednesday, he posted on X that there is "something deeply wrong with Talarico," later labeling him a "creep." He also claimed without evidence that the senator would vote to take away children and transition them. Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility. Talarico responded on the same day, stating, "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator."

The Texas race remains a toss-up. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted from October 17 to 19, found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent. This margin falls within the poll's 3-point margin of error.

The stakes extend well beyond the Senate seat. If Democrats win the House, committee leaders have indicated they will investigate Musk's role in the Department of Government Efficiency, as well as his companies' federal contracts. Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California described the number of conflicts of interest as "astounding." A unified Democratic Congress would present even greater challenges.

On Friday, Silicon Valley Democrats added another target: restrictions on SpaceX's Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. In a letter to the White House, Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna demanded an investigation. They vowed that the next Congress would closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk's businesses.