USA03 September, 20262 min read
Elon Musk’s America PAC Spends About $800,000 in Texas, Maine, and Ohio Midterms
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
America PAC spent just over $800,000 in August across multiple Senate races and House districts. Spending targeted Maine and Texas most heavily in the midterm push.
Musk’s PAC opens with $800K
Elon Musk’s America PAC reported spending about $800,000 in key midterm races, with the first major publicly disclosed burst of expenditures covering Aug. 19 through Aug. 31, according to The Hill and Fox News.
The Hill said the PAC spent around $248,000 in Texas as Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton fights for the Senate against Democrat James Talarico, and it also cited spending of about $170,000 in Maine and $106,000 in Ohio.
Fox News reported the Texas Senate race received nearly $248,000 supporting Paxton and opposing Talarico, and it said the PAC’s average was roughly $70,000 per day over the 12-day expenditure period.
NBC News said the America PAC disclosed nearly a quarter-million dollars in recent spending on the Texas Senate race, more than $170,000 on the Maine Senate race, and more than $25,000 on the Michigan Senate race, in a report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday night.
Targets, filings, and messaging
The Hill said the PAC put several thousand into eight high-stakes House races, supporting Republican Reps. Jen Kiggans, Tom Kean Jr., Mike Lawler, Ryan Mackenzie, Scott Perry, Rob Bresnahan and Derrick Van Orden, along with Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer in Florida’s 25th District.
CNBC reported that nearly 90% of the $800,475 disclosed Wednesday night went toward Senate races, with more than $247,000 spent in Texas to support Ken Paxton and oppose James Talarico, and it listed additional Senate spending in Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska.
CBS News said the August spending by America PAC was directed toward nearly all of the expected competitive Senate races, listing Texas ($247,595), Maine ($170,224.29), Ohio ($105,675), New Hampshire ($91,458.50), Iowa ($54,600), Michigan ($25,605) and Alaska ($17,235).
CBS News also reported that the spending disclosed on Wednesday was categorized for "PRINTING," suggesting it was for mail advertisements, and it noted that America PAC spent over $207,000 on digital ads in Texas, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine.
Political fallout and next moves
The Hill said Musk’s America PAC spending comes after Musk reportedly met last week with Speaker Mike Johnson in Texas, where the party will be holding its first midterm convention next week to rally the base. CBS News reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed to CBS News that he had met with Musk during a campaign swing in Texas, and it quoted Johnson saying, "He's made public a lot of what he's doing."
“He's made public a lot of what he's doing.”
NBC News said America PAC is weighing in on highly competitive races including Senate contests in Maine, Michigan and Texas, and it described Democrats seeking to flip competitive seats as midterm elections approach. The Hill reported Musk planned to scale back his spending after raising concerns among Republicans, while CNBC said the group was authorized to spend as much as $120 million on an effort to help elect Republicans this November, and it added that FEC data through June 30 showed America PAC had raised $50.3 million and spent $52.3 million, leaving about $274,000 in cash on hand.