Musk Gives America PAC $76 Million More for Midterm Push

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk gave his political committee, America PAC, more than $76 million in the first two weeks of October, according to a pre-election report the group filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, cited by WIRED.

The filing shows America PAC spent nearly $43 million over the same two weeks and entered the final stretch of the midterm campaign holding close to $47 million in cash, WIRED reported.

How much has Musk spent on the midterms overall

Musk has given more than $445 million to Republican political groups this election cycle, according to WIRED's analysis of FEC filings, a figure that makes him the largest known individual donor in the midterms. More than $165 million of that total has flowed to America PAC since July alone, the outlet reported.

Why is the Texas Senate race drawing so much money

The Texas Senate contest absorbed the bulk of the new spending, drawing $15.2 million from America PAC in the first half of October — double what the group spent there over the summer, WIRED reported. Of that, $12.4 million went toward attacking Democratic candidate James Talarico and $2.8 million toward promoting Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings since then show an additional $9.1 million against Talarico, pushing the PAC's total spending against him to nearly $28 million, or roughly 40 percent of everything it has spent on candidates this cycle, according to WIRED.

The committee also shifted toward digital advertising, spending $11.4 million on online ads during the same two weeks — nearly matching its combined spending on mail and texting, the filing shows. America PAC declined to comment to WIRED.

What has Musk said about the Texas race

Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX are based in Texas, has posted repeatedly about the contest on X. On Wednesday he wrote that "there is something deeply wrong with Talarico," calling him "a creep" and claiming, without evidence, that he "would vote to take away your kids and transition them," according to WIRED. Earlier in October, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility.

Talarico responded the same day, saying, "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator," WIRED reported.

An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted October 17 to 19 and cited by WIRED, found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent — within the poll's 3-point margin of error.

What investigations could Musk face if Democrats win

Democrats positioned to lead House committees have signaled plans to examine Musk's role in the Department of Government Efficiency, his companies' federal contracts, and what Representative Zoe Lofgren of California called an "astounding" number of conflicts of interest, according to WIRED. Unified Democratic control of Congress would widen that exposure.

Silicon Valley Democrats added a separate target Friday: 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 wrote that the next Congress "will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Mr. Musk's businesses," WIRED reported.

Is the Texas Senate race still competitive

With early polling inside the margin of error, the race between Talarico and Paxton remains a toss-up heading into the final stretch, according to the Emerson College survey cited by WIRED.