{"id":95747,"date":"2026-10-13T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=95747"},"modified":"2026-10-12T20:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T02:05:14","slug":"inside-elon-musks-276-million-midterm-rescue-mission-for-republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/inside-elon-musks-276-million-midterm-rescue-mission-for-republicans\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Elon Musk\u2019s $276 million midterm rescue mission for Republicans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Inside<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Elon Musk has quietly funneled more than $276 million into Republican groups and his super PAC since the start of July, building a huge turnout operation to help the party battle headwinds in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staggering amount of money makes Mr. Musk, the richest person in the world, by far the largest known donor in the midterms. Representatives for Mr. Musk supplied the previously unreported figures on his political giving to The New York Times before a federal filing deadline on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to save Republicans\u2019 Senate majority, he gave a total of $158 million this summer to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC backing the party\u2019s candidates for the chamber, according to his team. In sum, that is one of the largest political donations in American history, and more than the group\u2019s Democratic rival raised from all of its donors that quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk has also built a major Republican turnout operation through a super PAC he founded in 2024, America PAC. He donated over $76 million this summer to the group, which in turn spent that much on building a sprawling canvassing program to try to turn out hard-to-reach Republican voters. The group is active in seven Senate battlegrounds and nearly three dozen House races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elon Musk\u2019s campaign contributions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inside<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk has already given far more money, about $366 million, to federal committees during the 2025-26 election cycle than he did during the 2024 election, when he laid out roughly $290 million to help return President Trump and Republicans to power. He has given even more in undisclosed donations during both elections, according to people briefed on the giving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest torrent of spending has helped give the Republican Party a financial advantage in the midterms, as well-funded outside groups like Mr. Trump\u2019s powerful super PAC flood the airwaves with advertising in the final weeks. No Democratic billionaire is spending nearly as much as Mr. Musk, and money remains a central worry for the party in an otherwise favorable political environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The donations also clear up the mystery of how much staying power Mr. Musk wants to have in American politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn terms of political spending, I\u2019m going to do a lot less in the future,\u201d he said in May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk, who oversees a vast business empire that has benefited from enormous federal contracts, is famously unpredictable and often jumps from one project to another. He has been far quieter about his political work since his dramatic blowup with Mr. Trump last year. After months of wielding vast influence inside the White House and overseeing Mr. Trump\u2019s government cost-cutting project, he raged against the president\u2019s major domestic policy bill and floated threats to start a third party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the two men have warmed back up, appearing together at three events in the last two weeks and praising each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Mr. Musk has donated more than a quarter-billion dollars to help Mr. Trump and Republicans in the midterms. The money signals his commitment to the right and sets him up as a potential player in the 2028 presidential election, when his super PAC says it intends to remain active \u2014 the first time it has confirmed such plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond Mr. Musk\u2019s donations to his super PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund, his representatives said that from July through September, he had given smaller but still substantial amounts to other conservative groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main super PAC for House Republicans<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, a group supporting Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$10 million to the Republican Governors Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d said Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for America PAC. \u201cThese robust investments have allowed the G.O.P. apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushing for Paxton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On voters\u2019 doors across Texas, the campaign literature carries a stark warning: \u201cRadical Democrat socialists are winning elections all across America. Could Texas be next?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hanging door cards are the work of Mr. Musk\u2019s voter-turnout operation, which deployed nearly 3,000 paid canvassers last week around the country, according to America PAC officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group has devoted most of its more than $76 million in midterm spending so far to this canvassing program, shelling out smaller amounts on advertising, mail, phone calls and text messages. Much of the messaging targets Democrats, sometimes in misleading or overheated ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This spring, Mr. Trump\u2019s political advisers asked Mr. Musk to reprise America PAC\u2019s 2024 field program, a person familiar with the conversation said. Despite the challenging environment for Republicans, some party strategists believe that a field program can make the difference in particularly tight races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America PAC relies on a few voter-canvassing firms that compete aggressively with one another for work and for staffing, according to people briefed on the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turnover in the canvassing industry is high. One canvasser who worked for America PAC told The Times that he was paid between $1.50 and $3.00 for each door he knocked on across Texas in the heat. America PAC says it has knocked on about 6.5 million doors across the country so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk and his operation, people close to them say, have been particularly focused on the Texas Senate race. The group has unloaded over a third of its disclosed spending in that expensive race, more than in any other. It is uncommon to run an extensive field campaign in large states like Texas, where television ads are more often used to reach voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk, a resident of Austin, has extensive business interests and property holdings in Texas. Mr. Paxton, the state attorney general, has investigated Mr. Musk\u2019s opponents, like Media Matters, a liberal group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk\u2019s $10 million donation to Mr. Paxton\u2019s super PAC came at a critical time, when the Republican candidate was being badly outspent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Mr. Musk\u2019s $158 million in donations to the Senate Leadership Fund, the most the super PAC has ever received from a single donor in a quarter, may have made it possible for that group to suddenly spend big for Mr. Paxton after months of reluctance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is because Mr. Musk\u2019s donations preceded the decision in late August by the super PAC, led by allies of Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, to start what has become a $149 million pro-Paxton ad campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Focus on Transgender Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it did in 2024, Mr. Musk\u2019s operation is focused not on persuading swing voters, but on registering and turning out voters with conservative beliefs \u2014 especially \u201clow-propensity\u201d ones who are less likely to cast a ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a lot harder for Republicans in a midterm election, without Mr. Trump at the top of the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do it, Mr. Musk\u2019s super PAC is leaning hard into the culture wars, especially transgender issues. (Mr. Musk\u2019s daughter, who is transgender, has spoken about their clashes over her identity, and he has suggested that this led to his increased political engagement.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At voters\u2019 doors in Texas, canvassers are told to target Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic candidate for governor, over her record on transgender issues, according to parts of a script reviewed by The Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the Musk operation is leaving literature on doors that claims that James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, has a \u201cradical trans agenda.\u201d And America PAC\u2019s top ad in the state, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact, denounces Mr. Talarico over his past comments suggesting that \u201cGod is nonbinary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Musk group is also targeting other Democratic Senate candidates over transgender issues, including Josh Turek, the party\u2019s nominee in Iowa. Nationally, one of the super PAC\u2019s most visible ads on Facebook features a man in makeup and reads: \u201cHe made his plan to vote. Did you? Don\u2019t stay home while crazies elect radicals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group is running ads and sending mail on a broad range of topics, but socialism is a core theme. The Musk super PAC regularly attacks Democrats as socialist and ties them to figures like Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, according to 48 pieces of direct mail shared by Mintt, a mail-tracking firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online, it is even running personalized messaging that invokes a voter\u2019s first name. For example, in a video showing smiling Democrats: \u201cWhy are they smiling? Because Christopher hasn\u2019t made a plan to vote yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of this outreach points voters to an America PAC website where conservatives can learn about how to register to vote. The super PAC is pushing what it calls an \u201cAmerica Pass,\u201d a digital card on Apple or Google wallets on voters\u2019 phones that lists their registration information, along with election dates and deadlines in their home state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Big Spender With a Back-Seat Role<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Mr. Musk is spending big again and using some tactics that are similar to those he deployed two years ago, this is not 2024 anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is in a different place politically. While he and Mr. Trump appear to be on good terms again \u2014 \u201cour modern-day Thomas Edison,\u201d the president called him on Thursday \u2014 Mr. Musk is taking a hands-off approach this election and does not appear as personally passionate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has not brought up the midterm elections or the Trump presidency much in private conversations with friends, according to people who have spoken to him in recent months. He is focused on his businesses, these people say, and he and his business lieutenants have taken a less active role in America PAC\u2019s operations, entrusting major decisions to Chris Young, his top adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on X, a semi-reliable indicator of where the billionaire\u2019s mind is, Mr. Musk has written just seven direct posts this year about candidates in competitive midterm races, according to a Times review, a far cry from his relentless calls throughout 2024 to elect Mr. Trump. Five of those posts focused on Mr. Talarico \u2014 and one appeared critical of Senator Susan Collins, a vulnerable Republican in Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gone, too, are Mr. Musk\u2019s barnstorming campaign stops, like the ones he did in Pennsylvania in October 2024 or a Wisconsin judicial election in the spring of 2025. There are no more sweepstakes where he personally hands an oversize check of $1 million to some registered voters who sign a petition, a gambit that drew legal challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Musk has not evidently grown infatuated with candidates this time around, as he did with Mr. Trump. The closest he came was a $10 million donation for a long-shot Republican running for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky \u2014 an investment that went poorly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $276 million figure is, of course, just what is publicly known. Mr. Musk has also made some seven-figure donations to support midterm candidates through groups that are not required to disclose their donors, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Credits: The New York Times<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Author: Theodore Schleifer<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Photo: Jim Vondruska<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Elon Musk has quietly funneled more than $276 million into Republican groups and his super PAC since the start of July, building a huge turnout operation to help the party battle headwinds in the midterm elections. The staggering amount of money makes Mr. Musk, the richest person in the world, by far the largest known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":95748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Inside Elon Musk\u2019s $276 million midterm rescue mission for Republicans - Opini\u00f3n P\u00fablica","description":"Elon Musk has quietly funneled more than $276 million into Republican groups and his super PAC since the start of July, building a huge turnout operation to hel"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1015],"tags":[722,2309,4866],"class_list":["post-95747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-optv-usa","tag-elon-musk","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-republicans"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95750,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95747\/revisions\/95750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}