Musk Donations Shake Up Texas Senate Race

New filings with the Federal Election Commission detail some of the biggest Musk donations of this year's midterm elections. Elon Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September, according to the super PAC's filing, and the money moved almost immediately into the closely watched Texas Senate race. After pouring more than a quarter of a billion dollars into the last presidential race, Musk has returned as a pillar of Republican campaign operations, reported by CNN.

How the money moved

Documents show Musk gave $75 million to the fund on September 9 and $83 million later in the month. The day after each donation arrived, the Senate Leadership Fund transferred the exact same sum to Texas PAC, a group created specifically for the Texas Senate race. The Musk donations accounted for the majority of the fund's receipts across the reporting period, making Musk the fund's dominant backer this cycle.

The seat is currently held by Republican Senator John Cornyn. Attorney General Ken Paxton is running for it against Democrat James Talarico, and recent polls show the race essentially tied. Once the Musk donations began flowing into the race, Republican ad spending surged. Texas PAC spent more than $77 million on advertising that month, according to AdImpact data, and its total spending backing Paxton is expected to reach nearly one hundred sixty million dollars by Election Day.

A tied race flooded with ads

Talarico's campaign announced the same day that it raised a record-breaking $64 million over the three-month stretch, a grassroots answer to the Musk donations, topping the previous quarterly record of $57.9 million set six years ago by Jaime Harrison. The campaign said in a statement that its total since launching last September exceeds $134.3 million, with the bulk coming from small contributions. Paxton raised $18 million over the same period through his campaign and affiliated committees.

That leaves Republicans with the far larger advertising budget even as Talarico leads in direct fundraising, a split that defines this year's money race. Total ad spending across the race has climbed past half a billion dollars, and Talarico remains behind in money spent on television. His fundraising haul reflects strong small-donor appeal, a dynamic that has kept the race competitive despite the Musk donations pouring into the other side. On Wednesday night he took the stage alone for a town hall hosted by CNN and Jubilee, where he vowed to take on both parties over energy policy and faulted each party's extremes on immigration. At a rally the following day in San Marcos, he likened his underdog campaign to the biblical David facing Goliath. Trump has also made several trips to Texas to rally for Paxton, according to the Associated Press.

Musk's expanding Texas footprint

Musk has lived in Texas since 2020 and built the core of his business empire there, with SpaceX, Tesla, and X all running major operations in the state. He relocated the headquarters of X and SpaceX from California two years ago. He has also attacked Talarico personally in recent weeks, CNN has reported, making the contest a personal investment as much as a financial stake.

The Senate Leadership Fund gifts are part of a wider Musk donations wave that stretches well beyond Texas. Musk also poured more than eighty million dollars into his own America PAC over the summer, which in turn spent $6.3 million backing Paxton and opposing Talarico. He additionally wrote a check for ten million dollars to Lone Star Liberty PAC, another group supporting Paxton. Campaign-finance records reviewed by Reuters and the Associated Press put Musk's total giving to Republican committees and groups since July at $276 million, and roughly $366 million across the full election cycle, according to their reporting. A spokesman for America PAC confirmed the figures.

That scale surpasses Musk's earlier political spending: he put more than $290 million behind President Donald Trump and other Republicans in that campaign. Under federal law, super PACs may raise and spend unlimited sums as long as they do not coordinate with candidates. Supporters call that spending protected political speech, while critics say it lets a small number of donors drown out ordinary voters. The Musk donations are expected to keep funding Paxton's ad blitz through Election Day, when Texas voters get the final word in a Senate race already among the country's costliest. For more on the political stories shaping the week, see GenZ NewZ's politics coverage and its report on Carney's Alberta referendum rally.