Texas Senate Campaign: America PAC Spends $76 Million

America PAC, the personal political committee of Elon Musk, reported receiving more than $76 million during the first two weeks of October. The group filed the pre-election report with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening. The money arrived as the midterm campaign entered its final stretch.

The committee spent nearly $43 million in that same period. It currently holds almost $47 million in cash. The Texas Senate race absorbed the largest share of the new expenditure. The PAC allocated $15.2 million to that specific contest. This amount is double the total spent in Texas over the entire summer.

Of the Texas budget, $12.4 million went to advertisements attacking Democratic candidate James Talarico. The remaining $2.8 million promoted Republican incumbent Ken Paxton. Daily filings submitted after the initial report show another $9.1 million directed against Talarico. This brings the PAC’s total spending against the Democrat in this cycle to nearly $28 million. That figure represents roughly 40 percent of all money the group has spent supporting or opposing candidates.

The committee has also shifted its strategy toward digital platforms. It spent $11.4 million on online advertising during the two-week window. This amount is close to the total spent on mail and texting combined. According to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings by Wired, Musk has given more than $445 million to Republican political groups this election cycle. More than $165 million of that total went to America PAC since July.

Musk has also used his social media presence to influence the race. On Wednesday, he wrote on X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He called the candidate a creep and claimed without evidence that Talarico would vote to take away voters' kids and transition them. Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility. Talarico responded the same day, stating there is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.

The race remains close. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted from October 17 to 19, placed Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent. The margin of error is three points. If Democrats win the House, committee chairs have signaled plans to investigate Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency. They also intend to examine federal contracts held by his companies. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna sent a letter to the White House demanding an investigation into SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. They wrote that the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk's businesses.