Musk's $47 million PAC contribution backed Paxton's losing Texas Senate bid

Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September

Elon Musk’s political action committee contributed $47 million (£35 million) to Republican candidate Ken Paxton’s Texas Senate campaign, on top of the $158 million Musk gave the Senate Leadership Fund in September, according to the Financial Times as cited by BBC News. The money was not enough to stop Democrat James Talarico from defeating Paxton and turning the seat Democratic for the first time since 1988. BBC technology reporter Laura Cress described the result as a major midterm upset for Republicans and for Musk.

BBC News also reported that Musk became the top individual donor in the midterms overall, contributing an estimated $446 million in support of Republican candidates. His money went through super PACs, which can raise unlimited sums but cannot give directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns.

BBC News explained that individuals, parties and traditional groups face legal limits on direct donations. Super PACs spend independently, including on advertisements that back a candidate.

The Texas contest was one of the most expensive Senate races ever, BBC News reported. Musk was one of the Republican Party’s biggest donors in 2024, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Donald Trump’s winning presidential campaign. BBC News said a similarly large amount was not enough to deliver the seat for Paxton this time.

Musk has increasingly made Texas a hub for his companies, according to BBC News. Tesla’s Austin headquarters and SpaceX’s Starbase launch site are in the state.

As well as backing Paxton through outside groups, Musk used X to spread conspiracy theories about Talarico, BBC News reported. After Talarico briefly disappeared from the campaign trail in October, Musk posted: “There is something deeply wrong with Talarico.”

Talarico posted in response: “There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.”

Musk jokingly wrote on X: “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.”

In his acceptance speech, Talarico said: “We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.”

Beyond the campaign spending, BBC News reported that Talarico’s victory marked a key turning point in the midterms, helping solidify Democrats’ control of the US Congress in a wave of wins across the country.