Musk Commits $76 Million to Texas Senate Race in Midterm Push

Elon Musk’s personal political committee, America PAC, received over $76 million during the first half of October. The group filed a pre-election report with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday, detailing the influx of funds aimed at supporting Republican candidates in the final weeks of the midterm campaign.

Musk has contributed more than $445 million to Republican political groups this cycle. This total makes him the largest known individual donor in the 2026 midterms. Since July, America PAC alone has received over $165 million from Musk. The committee did not respond to requests for comment regarding the new spending.

The Texas Senate contest received the bulk of the recent expenditure. America PAC allocated $15.2 million to that race, double the amount spent there during the summer. Of that sum, $12.4 million funded attacks on Democratic candidate James Talarico, while $2.8 million promoted Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings indicate an additional $9.1 million was directed against Talarico after the initial report. This brings the PAC's total spending against the Democrat to nearly $28 million, which accounts for roughly 40 percent of all candidate-related spending by the group.

The committee shifted its advertising strategy toward digital platforms. It spent $11.4 million on online ads in the two-week period, an amount nearly equal to its combined spending on mail and text messaging. Musk also engaged directly in the campaign through social media. On Wednesday, he posted on X that Talarico was a "creep" and claimed the candidate would vote to transition voters' children. Earlier in October, Musk shared a false claim that Talarico had been treated in a mental health facility.

Talarico reacted to Musk’s online comments the same day. He stated that the political system allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal senator. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted October 17 to 19, shows the race remains competitive. Talarico leads Paxton by two points, 48 percent to 46 percent, within the three-point margin of error.

The outcome of the Texas race has implications beyond the statehouse. Democratic lawmakers have indicated they will investigate Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency if Democrats secure the House. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna wrote to the White House requesting scrutiny of federal funding for Musk’s businesses, specifically citing restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service in Ukraine.