Musk’s super PAC recently dropped almost a quarter-million dollars boosting the Republican Senate nominee, who has seen a recent surge in outside support yet continues to lag in fundraising.
WASHINGTON — Elon Musk’s America PAC waded into Texas’ U.S. Senate race for the first time in recent days, dropping almost $250,000 to boost Attorney General Ken Paxton and attack his Democratic foe, state Rep. James Talarico.
The spending, disclosed this week to the Federal Election Commission, was part of an $800,000 outlay for Republican House and Senate candidates around the country — America PAC’s first spending activity this year. All of it was earmarked for “printing” — typically things like mailers, signs and flyers — with the nearly-quarter million dollars in Texas accounting for the most of any race.
Most of the spend in Texas was dated Aug. 20, days before a wave of other outside GOP groups began hitting the airwaves with TV ads attacking Talarico. The spots largely focused on the Austin lawmaker’s vote against a 2025 law that banned people and entities tied to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land in Texas.
America PAC has been voicing its opposition to Talarico’s campaign on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, posting about the Democratic nominee four times since Tuesday. The missives accuse Talarico of “running from his radical past” and masquerading as a moderate “to trick Texas voters into electing him.”
Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, reportedly authorized his PAC last November to spend more than $100 million this cycle. He met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, on Monday to discuss plans, according to Politico.
This influx of cash marks the beginning of that spree and Musk’s return to political spending. He was the 2024 presidential election’s largest donor, putting more than a quarter billion dollars toward the campaigns of President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.
However much he sends Paxton’s way could prove pivotal. Recent polling shows Talarico narrowly leading Paxton in what’s been a tight race from the jump. On fundraising, Talarico has far outpaced his rival, raising $72 million compared to Paxton’s $16.8 million this cycle.
The biggest question remains how much money, if any, Trump plans to deploy in Texas. The president, a longtime Paxton ally who endorsed him at the 11th hour in his primary, is sitting on a war chest of more than $400 million in his main super PAC, MAGA Inc. Senate GOP leaders have made clear in recent days that they plan to prioritize other states, putting the onus on Trump to help Paxton close the spending gap.
Trump held a recent fundraiser for Paxton in Houston but has not commented on whether the attorney general should expect support from MAGA Inc.
Musk, for his part, has a big stake in the state. The headquarters of Tesla, SpaceX and X are all based in Texas, along with a number of other facilities owned by Musk and his companies.
That presence is only growing. Last month, Tesla began construction on a semiconductor megafactory in Grimes County. On Thursday, Musk paraded dozens of self-driving, gold Cybercabs through the streets of Austin, touting the launch of Tesla’s Robotaxi service.
Though Texas’ Senate race saw the brunt of America PAC’s recent spending, the group also put money into competitive congressional races in 12 other states, including more than $170,000 in Maine and $105,000 in Ohio, signaling that Musk’s impact is likely to be felt well beyond the state where he’s built his biggest business presence.
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