How Elon Musk is bankrolling GOP’s hopes in Texas Senate race

New campaign finance filings reveal the major role billionaire Elon Musk has played in bankrolling Republican efforts against Democrat James Talarico in his home state of Texas. 

In fact, Musk appears to be the chief sponsor of a prominent group supporting Republican Ken Paxton, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. 

On Sept. 9, the first day of the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Musk gave $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the main Senate Republican super PAC.

One day later, SLF transferred $75 million to Texas PAC, which was founded a few weeks earlier to back Paxton in his Senate race against Talarico. 

On Sept. 23, Musk made another $83 million contribution to SLF. The group then transferred that sum to Texas PAC the next day. 

Texas PAC reported receiving the sum of those two payments -- totaling $158 million -- in its latest report.

The transfers have allowed the Senate GOP group to support Paxton without diverting resources away from Republicans in other competitive races across the country.

Republicans are trying to maintain their four-seat majority in the Senate in November and are currently locked in competitive races in North Carolina, Maine, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Alaska, in addition to Texas. 

Democrats are defending open Senate seats in Michigan, New Hampshire and Minnesota. 

The support directed to Texas PAC is just one element of Musk's more than $276 million in spending on the midterms -- close to what he spent on the entire 2024 presidential election.

Among other efforts, he has also pumped more than $76 million into AMERICA PAC, his super PAC helping the GOP target and turn out low-propensity Trump voters even though Trump is not on the ballot. 

From July to September, Musk also gave $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican super PAC; $10 million to another super PAC supporting Paxton; $10 million to the Republican Governors Association; and $2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association. 

A spokesperson for SLF did not immediately return a request for comment. 

“If Democrats take control of Washington and win key gubernatorial and attorney general races this November, then America risks becoming a socialist, woke and borderless country,” Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for America PAC, told the New York Times. “These robust investments have allowed the G.O.P. apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history.”

Many Democrats out-raised their GOP opponents in some competitive House and Senate races, according to new FEC filings. 

Talarico, for example, raised $64 million in the third quarter -- a record for Senate races -- compared to Paxton's $18 million in the same time period. 

But Republicans continue to enjoy a massive advantage in spending and support from outside political groups, such as Musk's, that have helped their candidates target voters.