Here’s Where Elon Spent His First Burst Of Midterm Money

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is throwing more than $800,000 behind vulnerable Republicans in House and Senate races as the GOP fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities in November.

New FEC filings show Musk’s America PAC, the political group that spent hundreds of millions helping elect President Donald Trump in 2024, reported more than $800,000 in independent expenditures last month, marking the opening burst of what is expected to become a $100 million to $200 million midterm buy by the world’s richest person.

The largest share of the spending went toward Texas, with $247,595 going to support Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in his tighter-than-expected Senate race against Democrat James Talarico. America PAC also spent to support Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio, Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa, Chris Sununu in New Hampshire, and Mike Rogers in Michigan.

The group also targeted competitive House districts in Virginia, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

The spending follows the former DOGE chief’s reported meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in Texas to coordinate GOP strategy in the battleground House districts his PAC plans to target.

“He’s made public a lot of what he’s doing. I’m going to talk about our conversation on that point, but we’re gonna win the midterms,” Johnson told CBS News.

Musk plans to use his revived operation to prioritize door-knocking, digital advertising, and direct mail to energize conservative voters who typically skip midterms, The Daily Wire previously reported.

Texas is expected to be a major focus of that drive. One prediction market currently has the race as a near dead heat, with Talarico holding a slight edge (51%-50%) over Paxton. 

“America PAC was an essential partner for our historic GOTV operation in 2024, and their return for 2026 is a huge boost for Republicans across the country,” James Blair, President Trump’s senior political adviser, previously told Axios. “We will again outsmart our opponents and ruthlessly execute our mission for the GOP between now and Election Day.” 

With control of both the House and Senate up for grabs, Republicans face significant headwinds heading into Election Day, including elevated gas prices, the lingering conflict with Iran, and President Trump’s low approval ratings. The latest RealClearPolitics polling average gives Democrats a roughly 5.7-percentage-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot.

GOP leaders are especially concerned about Texas, where Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has urged Trump to get involved while warning that Republican Senate campaign committees cannot afford to spend heavily in the state’s costly media markets.

“I worry about that, for sure,” Thune told a local CBS affiliate about losing the Senate Republican majority in November. “I’m a realist, and I just think you — I don’t ever try and sugarcoat things. I think it’s a competitive environment right now.”

Trump, meanwhile, has promised to deploy his own operation’s enormous war chest before Election Day, held largely by MAGA Inc. super PAC. According to federal election records, Trump’s PAC had more than $400 million cash on hand as of July 31.

“Well, I’ve raised a lot, and nobody knows what it is, but I will tell you it’s about $850 million,” Trump said, teasing his financial involvement in the midterms. “I’ll be spending a lot of that money, and my own money, for candidates that I think are good — Republican candidates that I think are good.”