Midterm Spending Surge: Musk's PAC Injects $76M Into Texas Battle

The final stretch of the midterm elections has arrived with a significant financial twist. A pre-election report filed Thursday evening with the Federal Election Commission indicates that Elon Musk’s personal political committee, America PAC, received more than $76 million in the first half of October. This substantial injection of cash aims to bolster Republican candidates during the campaign’s closing phase.

The organization reported spending nearly $43 million during that two-week period while retaining nearly $47 million in cash reserves as it enters the final leg of the race. The Texas Senate contest absorbed the largest share of these new funds, attracting $15.2 million in expenditure. This amount is double what the PAC allocated to that specific race throughout the entire summer. Of that sum, $12.4 million was dedicated to attacking Democratic nominee James Talarico, while $2.8 million went toward promoting Republican candidate Ken Paxton.

Subsequent daily filings show an additional $9.1 million spent against Talarico, pushing the PAC’s total spending on that candidate this cycle to nearly $28 million. This figure represents approximately 40 percent of everything the group has spent either supporting or opposing candidates. The data also suggests a strategic shift in media placement, with the PAC spending $11.4 million on digital ads in the same two weeks. This online expenditure is nearly equal to the combined total spent on traditional mail and texting campaigns.

According to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings by WIRED, Musk has now contributed more than $445 million to Republican political groups this election cycle. This total secures his position as the largest known individual donor for the midterms. Notably, more than $165 million of that aggregate sum has flowed into America PAC since July. The PAC itself declined to comment on the new figures or its strategy.

The financial push coincides with heightened public commentary from the billionaire. On Wednesday, Musk posted on X that there is “something deeply wrong with Talarico.” He later labeled the Democrat “a creep” and claimed, without providing evidence, that Talarico “would vote to take away your kids and transition them.” Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false assertion that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility. Talarico responded immediately, stating that there is “something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.”

Despite the heavy spending, the race remains competitive. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters conducted from October 17 to 19 shows Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent. The difference falls within the poll’s three-point margin of error, indicating a toss-up scenario. The stakes extend beyond state politics, as a Democratic victory in the House could trigger investigations into Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency and his companies’ federal contracts.

Silicon Valley Democrats have also identified additional targets, including restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. In a letter to the White House demanding an investigation, Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna vowed that the next Congress “will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Mr. Musk’s businesses.”