Elon Musk Makes Massive Donation To Kentucky Candidate Shaking Up GOP Senate Primary

The richest man in the world made the biggest move yet in the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky, donating $10 million to help a friend of Vice President JD Vance win the seat of retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Elon Musk’s $10 million to a political action committee that backs Nate Morris is the largest single donation the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has ever made to a Senate candidate, Axios reported. Morris, a 45-year-old businessman whose ancestors live in Appalachia, is friends with Vance, whose family also has roots in Appalachia. Morris is running in what promises to be a tightly contested race between Rep. Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, two conservatives with strong name recognition in the state.

Musk’s donation was reported on Monday, around two months after the billionaire met with Vance for a dinner at the vice president’s residence. The dinner also included White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich, according to Axios.

Morris has supported Republican candidates since 2004 when he donated to President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign. In 2024, he donated $50,000 to Trump’s super PAC. He has also been one Senator Rand Paul’s biggest supporters and friends, and helped connect the libertarian-minded Republican to potential donors for his 2016 presidential bid. Paul is now one of the president’s most vocal critics in Congress.

Morris recently spoke to Musk about his opposition to McConnell and the so-called establishment wing of the Republican Party, The New York Times reported. He was endorsed by the late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk shortly before Kirk was assassinated, and has also been endorsed by Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-IN).

As of January, the limited polling data for the GOP primary showed Morris far behind Cameron and Barr, but with four months until the primary and with major help from Musk, Morris is set up to be competitive in the race. President Donald Trump has not yet an endorsement in the Kentucky Senate race.

Musk’s donation to the Morris-aligned super PAC shows that the billionaire is ready to open his checkbook for Republicans in the 2026 midterms, but also suggests that Musk will be strategic about who he backs. Musk clashed with Trump and Republican leaders shortly after becoming a senior adviser to the president last year, taking issue with Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and what he viewed as irresponsible government spending.

Musk stepped down from his position as senior adviser to Trump last May, and shortly after, suggested that he might create a third party to oppose both Democratic radicalism and Republican inaction. His third-party plans never came to fruition, and earlier this month, he reposted a report that stated he is “going all-in funding Republicans to help President Trump take back full control in the November midterms.”

“America is toast if the radical left wins,” Musk wrote on January 1. “They will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. Won’t be America anymore.”

Musk also reportedly donated to other Republican congressional campaigns late last year as the GOP prepares for a tough battle to maintain control of both the House and the Senate. Axios reported in December that Musk “cut big checks” for Republicans in both chambers of Congress and suggested he would donate more as the 2026 race heats up.