Elon Musk’s America PAC has spent more than $800,000 backing Republican candidates in closely fought US congressional races, in the first sign of a much larger financial effort ahead of the November midterm elections.
The political action committee reported the August expenditure on Wednesday, 2 September, directing most of the money towards Senate contests in Texas and Maine, where Republicans are defending seats. The spending covered seven states and also included support for competitive House districts.
Texas received $247,595, followed by Maine with $170,224.29. The PAC also spent $105,675 in Ohio, $91,458.50 in New Hampshire, $54,600 in Iowa, $25,605 in Michigan and $17,235 in Alaska.
Republican candidates and incumbents in contested House districts in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin were also among those to benefit from the spending.
All of the independent expenditure disclosed for August was recorded under “printing”, indicating that the money was used for direct-mail advertising. The filings were approved by Chris Young, a Republican operative and former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency who was hired by Musk in 2024 to oversee America PAC and co-ordinate its spending.
The PAC has separately spent more than $207,000 on digital advertising in Texas, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine, according to AdImpact and records from Facebook’s advertising library. Most of the adverts encourage people to vote, although one invokes New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and warns that failing to vote could allow “socialism” to prevail in America.
The August spending is expected to be only the beginning of Musk’s intervention in the 2026 election. The New York Times has reported that he authorised America PAC to spend between $100 million and $120 million on a Republican voter-turnout operation in at least eight states.
The planned campaign is expected to include door-knocking, digital advertising and direct mail aimed at Republican-leaning voters who are less likely to participate in non-presidential elections. America PAC has also been in contact with other groups in the Republican campaign network.
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that he had met Musk during a campaign visit to Texas, where several House races are competitive alongside the Senate contest between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico.
Mr Johnson declined to say whether the pair had discussed Musk’s plans to spend money in the midterms, but said: “He’s made public a lot of what he’s doing. I’m going to talk about our conversation on that point, but we’re gonna win the midterms.”
America PAC spent more than $239 million supporting Republican candidates in 2024, making Musk the biggest individual political donor of that election cycle. Much of the money was used to support Donald Trump and mobilise voters in key battleground states.
Musk said in an interview last year that he intended to reduce his political spending, declaring: “I think I’ve done enough.” His renewed involvement makes him one of the most significant Republican financial backers as the party seeks to retain control of Congress in the 3 November elections.
