Musk Moves $76 Million to Texas Senate Race in October

Elon Musk directed more than $76 million to his political committee, America PAC, during the first two weeks of October. A pre-election report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday confirms the transfer, which occurred as the midterm campaign entered its final phase.

The Texas Senate contest consumed the majority of the new funds. The PAC spent $15.2 million on the race, double the amount it allocated to that specific election over the summer. Of that total, $12.4 million targeted Democratic candidate James Talarico, while $2.8 million supported Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings indicate an additional $9.1 million was spent against Talarico after the initial report, bringing the cycle total against the Democrat to nearly $28 million.

The committee also shifted its strategy toward digital platforms. It spent $11.4 million on online ads in the two-week period, a figure comparable to its combined expenditure on mail and texting. The PAC held almost $47 million in cash on hand after spending nearly $43 million in the same window.

According to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records, Musk has donated more than $445 million to Republican groups in this cycle. He is the largest known individual donor for the midterms. More than $165 million of that total went to America PAC since July. The group did not return a request for comment.

The funding follows public remarks by Musk on social media. On Wednesday, he posted that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He called the candidate a creep and asserted without evidence that Talarico would vote to take away children and transition them. Talarico replied that the system is flawed when one trillionaire buys his own senator.

An Emerson College poll conducted October 17 to 19 shows the race is tight. The survey of 1,000 likely Texas voters found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent. The margin of error is three points.

The election outcome affects business interests tied to Musk. Democratic House leaders have stated they will investigate Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency and federal contracts held by his companies. If Democrats control both chambers, lawmakers plan to scrutinize federal funding for businesses like SpaceX, which provides the Starshield satellite service to Ukraine.