Can Elon Musk Rescue Republicans In November?
Elon Musk has given more than $276 million to Republican groups and his own America PAC since July, making him the largest known donor of the 2026 midterm elections, according to figures provided to The New York Times ahead of Thursday's federal filing deadline.
The spending marks a reversal from May 2025, when Musk said, "In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future."
The money has helped Republicans build a financial advantage in a cycle with difficult political conditions for the party. Republican outside groups, including President Trump's super PAC, are buying heavy late-campaign advertising, while Democrats have voiced concern about their own finances and have no billionaire donor operating at Musk's scale, the Times reported.
The largest single check went to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates. Musk gave the group $158 million over the summer, a quarterly record for one donor at the organization and more than its Democratic counterpart raised from all sources in the same quarter.
America PAC, which Musk founded in 2024, received more than $76 million from him over the same period. His federal committee contributions for the 2025-26 cycle now total about $366 million, including $90 million given before July. Musk previously gave roughly $290 million during the 2023-24 cycle. People briefed on his giving told the Times he also made undisclosed donations in both cycles, including seven-figure contributions this year through groups that keep their donors private.
From July through September, Musk also gave $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, $10 million to the Republican Governors Association, and $2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association.
Texas has drawn more of Musk's money than any other state, and the Senate race there accounts for more than a third of America PAC's disclosed spending. He gave $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, which supports Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, at a point when Democrats were heavily outspending Paxton.
Musk's contributions to the Senate Leadership Fund came before the group's late-August decision to launch what became a $149 million advertising campaign for Paxton. The fund, run by allies of Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, had not invested heavily in the race before then.
America PAC spends most of its midterm budget on door-to-door canvassing. PAC officials said nearly 3,000 paid canvassers worked across the country last week, and the group says it has knocked on about 6.5 million doors in seven Senate battlegrounds and nearly three dozen House races. The operation focuses on registering and turning out conservative voters, especially those who vote irregularly, a harder task in a midterm year without Trump at the top of the ballot. Trump's advisers asked Musk this spring to rebuild his 2024 field program, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
The PAC's messaging centers on socialism and transgender policy. Its mailers repeatedly link Democratic candidates to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, according to the mail-tracking firm Mintt, while its leading Texas advertisement features James Talarico's past claim that "God is nonbinary," according to the ad tracker AdImpact. "Radical Democrat socialists are winning elections all across America. Could Texas be next?" reads a door hanger the group distributes in Texas.
Despite his donations, according to the New York Times, Musk has taken a less visible personal role this cycle and has stopped personally handing out the $1 million sweepstakes checks that drew legal challenges. People who have spoken with him recently said he rarely discusses the midterms in private and has concentrated on his companies.
America PAC has also confirmed for the first time that it plans to remain active in the 2028 presidential election.
"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," America PAC spokesman Andrew Romeo said. "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."