Billionaire Elon Musk’s super PAC is ramping up spending on key races in the midterm elections, filings show — and it’s so far spent more backing Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate run than any other race.
Musk’s America PAC has spent $6.3 million to help Texas’ Republican attorney general and oppose his Democratic rival, James Talarico, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
America PAC has spent $16.6 million to boost Republicans in U.S. Senate contests nationwide, including high-profile races in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Maine. It’s also poured $3.1 million into more than 30 competitive U.S. House districts to counteract what many predict is an incoming blue wave threatening the GOP’s majority.
Musk’s sudden investment comes after a sleepy start for the Republican mega-donor this cycle compared to the gargantuan $290 million he donated to elect President Donald Trump and other Republicans in 2024.
According to Monday’s filing, Musk’s PAC also spent over $141,000 on a texting campaign sending out messages opposing Democrat Bobby Pulido’s campaign to represent South Texas’ 15th Congressional District.
One of the companies that received funds from Musk’s PAC is Red Zone Strategic LLC, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. America PAC gave Red Zone almost $4 million for a mailer campaign in opposition to Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign.
Musk has called Texas home since 2020. Additionally, both his electric vehicle company, Tesla, and his aerospace company, SpaceX, are headquartered in the Lone Star State.
Musk’s America PAC has publicly disclosed tens of millions in political spending throughout the country, but one watchdog argues that’s not the whole picture.
The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the FEC in April alleging that America PAC avoided financial disclosures by using a corporate shell company controlled by Musk to funnel additional money into politics.
CLC further alleges that America PAC “avoided disclosing the recipients of over $81 million in incentive payments” by having a corporate entity process these payments. These payments were part of a program designed to collect voter data on likely voters for Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election, according to the CLC.
CLC further maintains that Musk’s United States of America Inc. (USAI), also headquartered in Austin, “violated federal campaign finance laws by failing to register, organize and report as a political committee despite triggering political committee status.”
America PAC is “almost entirely” funded by the erstwhile trillionaire Musk, according to the complaint filed by the CLC.
The complaint also alleges that in October 2024, reports indicated that America PAC was “offering $47 for each voter” recruited to sign a “petition in which voters pledge their support for the First and Second Amendments.”
According to the watchdog group’s petition, “legal experts observed that America PAC was paying the referrers” rather than the signatories in an attempt to “skirt laws that forbid certain types of election-related payments.”
Paying voters directly in order to influence voting, known as vote buying, is illegal according to Title 18 of the United States Code.
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