Musk’s political donations top $445 million ahead of U.S. midterm elections

With a fresh infusion of cash into his super political action committee (PAC) in the first two weeks of October, Elon Musk has now given more than $445 million in the current election cycle and become one of the biggest-ever contributors to such groups.

The world’s richest person put $77 million into America PAC, U.S. Federal Election Commission filings show, in an effort to elect Republicans in November midterm contests.

America PAC spent $43 million over the same period and ended with $46.5 million cash on hand. Since August, it’s spent a total of $43.2 million on canvassing and $8.8 million on digital media and texting 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 top contributor to Democrats, and Republican backers like quant trader Jeffrey Yass and Uline co-founder Richard Uihlein.

He has much at stake in the outcome of the midterm elections. Musk’s overlapping empire of companies — which includes SpaceX, Tesla, the Boring Company and Neuralink — is heavily exposed to regulation by federal agencies. 

Musk’s planned merger of the first two companies will be subject to regulatory scrutiny. And his role leading DOGE, the slash-and-burn effort to reshape the federal government, could come into focus on Capitol Hill if Democrats win control of the U.S. House.

America PAC’s biggest expenditures in the midterms have been in the Texas Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, where it’s spent $33.1 million. In September, Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the main super PAC backing Grand Old Party (GOP) candidates for the upper chamber of Congress. SLF transferred that money to Texas PAC, an affiliate that’s focusing on the Texas Senate race. 

Texas PAC has spent $181 million on the contest since Sept. 11. That money has helped Paxton stay competitive with Talarico, who has proved a prodigious fundraiser.

Talarico has made Musk an issue in the closing days of the race. His campaign posted online a one-minute ad noting Musk’s money was behind many of the attacks on Talarico, and accused Musk of trying to buy his own U.S. Senator. Musk has used his social media megaphone to criticize Talarico, deriding the candidate as “a creep.”

Overall, Musk’s America PAC has spent $71 million to boost Republicans in midterm elections, including in high-profile Senate races in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Maine. It’s also spread money across more than 30 competitive House districts, joining GOP efforts to hold on to its majorities in both chambers of Congress.

America PAC has spent $9.4 million on the Ohio Senate race between Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Jon Husted. It’s also spent $8.6 million in the Michigan race where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers.

Much of its spending in these and other contests has been on phone calls, text messages and printed material like mailers and door hangers. In New York’s lower Hudson Valley, for example, where Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is in a competitive contest against Democrat Cait Conley, some households received door hangers paid for by America PAC. The mailers read “The Socialist Left is Destroying America,” and include a collage of images of Conley, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Musk’s donations widen the big financial advantage the GOP already enjoys over Democrats. Trump, the Republican Party and its congressional super PACs raised $2.1 billion through the end of the third quarter, topping the $1.3 billion that Democrats’ corresponding committees raised. The cash advantage is one bright spot in a difficult electoral environment for the GOP.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk has a net worth of $905.8 billion.

Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of the parent company of Bloomberg News, contributed about $80 million in September and October to help Democrats in the midterms.