Elon Musk’s Quiet Role in the Most Expensive Senate Race in History

Elon Musk is single-handedly funding one of the largest super PACs backing Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate midterm election. Five hundred million dollars has been spent so far, making it the most expensive Senate race in history.

According to Federal Election Commission reports filed Thursday, Musk made two multimillion-dollar donations in September to the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The next day, the Senate Leadership Fund made identical donations to the Texas PAC both times.

On Sept. 9, Musk gave $75 million. On Sept. 10, the SLF transferred $75 million to the Texas PAC. Exactly two weeks later, Musk gave another $83 million, and the next day the same amount was transferred from the Senate Leadership Fund to the Texas PAC.

In total, Musk gave $158 million to the Texas PAC, allegedly funneling the money through the Senate Leadership Fund in September. While it is a significant amount, those were the only two transactions made to the PAC. Texas PAC has spent over $120 million so far to aid Paxton, according to AdImpact.

The Texas Senate race is one of the most widely watched and contested races this midterm cycle. Paxton is up against Democrat state Rep. James Talarico, who has been more successful at independently fundraising than Paxton. The two are within a few percentage points of each other in the polls, according to the New York Times. While the race has swung back and forth, Talarico has led by one or two points more often.

This week, Talarico announced he raised $64 million in the third quarter, the most a Senate candidate has ever raised during the period, his campaign claims.

In 2020, Musk began moving his business empire to the Lone Star State, which has no state income tax, from California, where he was being taxed at more than 13% of his income. With more than 90 operating companies in Texas—including SpaceX, Starlink, and Tesla facilities—Musk contributes thousands of jobs to the economy.

Musk has spent more than $350 million this election cycle boosting Republicans, including million-dollar donations to MAGA Inc., a super PAC led by President Donald Trump, and America PAC, which Musk founded.

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