Federal Election Commission filings show America PAC spending in Lawler's race topped $500,000

Most spending went to voter outreach in the Hudson Valley contest

Federal Election Commission filings show that America PAC, the super PAC founded by Elon Musk, has spent more than $500,000 over the last year to help Republican incumbent Michael Lawler hold his seat in New York’s 17th congressional district. Lawler is fending off a challenge from Democrat Cait Conley in the Hudson Valley.

The Guardian described the district as highly competitive, Lawler as a moderate Republican and the contest as among the most-watched House races that could determine whether Republicans hold their majority in Congress.

The Guardian’s report included a photograph of Representative Michael Lawler arriving to speak at an event with Donald Trump in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026. The photograph was credited to Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Most of America PAC’s spending in the race funded voter outreach, including texting, printing, postage and digital media-related services. The Guardian said Gothamist was the first to report the spending. Lawler campaign manager Ciro Riccardi told Gothamist that the campaign had “no say over what America PAC or any other outside group spends in this race.” Riccardi referenced a law that prohibits campaigns from coordinating directly with super PACs.

The Guardian also noted that America PAC spent more than $2 million to help re-elect Lawler in 2024.

The Guardian identified Conley as the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and said she had accused Lawler of protecting Musk rather than regulating artificial intelligence.

“AI poses a very real threat to the safety and security of the American people, and it’s long past time that Congress took action to regulate it,” Conley wrote on X. “But Mike Lawler is standing in the way, because he’s looking out for his trillionaire backer Elon Musk.”

The Guardian described Musk as the Republicans’ largest donor so far in the 2026 midterm cycle and said he had spent millions of dollars on conservative candidates. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Musk had funneled $276 million into Republican groups and America PAC since the beginning of July.

The Guardian characterized the funding this way: “The funding is helping push Republican candidates to the finish line as they try to convince disgruntled voters to back the conservative party again.”

The Guardian said polling showed Republican candidates at a slight disadvantage this cycle and attributed that result to many voters’ frustration with the cost of living under Donald Trump.