$76 Million Musk Injection Lands in Texas Senate Race

Elon Musk transferred $76 million to his personal political committee, America PAC, during the first two weeks of October. The amount represents the largest single infusion into the group since the summer, according to a pre-election report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening.

The PAC deployed $42.9 million of that capital during the same period. It retained $46.8 million in cash for the final stretch of the midterm campaign. The Texas Senate race absorbed the largest share of the new spending. America PAC directed $15.2 million into the contest, a figure that is double the total amount spent in that state over the entire previous summer.

Of the Texas total, $12.4 million funded attacks on Democratic candidate James Talarico. The remaining $2.8 million supported Republican Ken Paxton. Daily filings indicate an additional $9.1 million has been directed against Talarico since the initial report. This brings the cycle total for spending against the Democrat to nearly $28 million, or roughly 40 percent of all funds the PAC has spent supporting or opposing candidates.

The group shifted its strategy toward digital platforms. It spent $11.4 million on online ads in the two-week window. This figure nearly matches the combined cost of traditional mail and texting efforts. Musk has also actively promoted the campaign on social media. On Wednesday, he posted on X that Talarico was "a creep" and claimed the senator-elect would vote to remove children from their families.

Talarico responded to the posts the same day. He stated that the political system was flawed because it allowed "one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator." An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted October 17 to 19, shows the race is statistically tied. Talarico holds 48 percent of the vote, while Paxton has 46 percent. The margin of error is three points.

The outcome carries implications beyond the state legislature. Democratic lawmakers have signaled they will investigate Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency and federal contracts held by his companies. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna wrote to the White House on Thursday. They stated the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk’s businesses, including restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield service in Ukraine.