America PAC burned through $43 million in two weeks, and Texas took the most

The filing

America PAC spent nearly $43 million in the first two weeks of October, and it entered the campaign's last leg still holding nearly $47 million in cash ^[1]. If you live in Texas, much of that money was aimed at your Senate race ^[1]. The figures come from a pre-election report the PAC filed with the Federal Election Commission on a Thursday evening ^[1].

More than $165 million of Elon Musk's giving has gone to America PAC since July ^[1]. The PAC also spent $11.4 million on digital ads in the same two weeks, a shift toward online ads ^[1].

Texas gets the biggest share

The Texas Senate race drew $15.2 million in new PAC spending, double what the PAC spent there all summer ^[1]. Of that, $12.4 million attacked Democratic candidate James Talarico and $2.8 million promoted Republican Ken Paxton ^[1].

Daily filings show another $9.1 million against Talarico, bringing the PAC's spending against him this cycle to nearly $28 million ^[1]. The race is close. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent, within the 3-point margin of error, so the race remains a toss-up ^[1].

Musk's own posts about Talarico

Musk posted on X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico and called him a creep ^[1]. He also claimed, without evidence, that Talarico would vote to take away children and transition them ^[1].

Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility ^[1].

Where the rest of the money went

The lion's share of $158 million went to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC defending Republicans' Senate majority ^[2]. America PAC also contributed $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund and $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, which supports Paxton's Senate run ^[2]. It gave a further $10 million to the Republican Governors Association and $2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association ^[2].

On the other side, George Soros and Alex Soros have contributed just over $100 million for Democratic campaigns in the midterms ^[2].

Musk and Trump, and the politics around him

Musk had a falling out with President Trump last year and announced he was leaving the Republican Party to form his own America Party ^[2]. The two have since patched things up, and Trump awarded Musk a National Medal of Science earlier this month ^[2].

Congress may look at Musk next

If Democrats win the House, lawmakers in line to lead its committees have signaled they will investigate Musk's role in DOGE and his companies' federal contracts ^[1]. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, called Musk's conflicts of interest an astounding number ^[1].

Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna sent a letter to the White House demanding an investigation into restrictions on SpaceX's Starshield service in Ukraine ^[1]. They vowed the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding to Musk's businesses ^[1].