Elon Musk has donated over $276 million to Republican midterm efforts

He’s by far the biggest known midterm donor.

Jess Weatherbed

Oct 12, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

So much for doing less political spending.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Jess Weatherbed

is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.

Elon Musk has handed out at least $276 million to Republican groups since July,The New York Timesreports, making him both the party’s top known donor and the biggest established midterm donor. $158 million of that money — one of the largest political donations in American history — has been funneled into the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC that aims to secure and maintain a Republican Senate majority. Among others, it’s fighting to retain the party’s Senate seat in Texas, which serves as a major hub for Musk’s business empire.

He’s also donated over $76 million to America PAC, a super PAC Musk founded in 2024 that canvasses for hard-to-reach Republican voters. Smaller amounts have also been given to other conservative groups, including:

$20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC for House Republicans
$10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, supporting Ken Paxton’s Senate Seat bid in Texas
$10 million to the Republican Governors Association
$2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association

The roughly $366 million that Musk has donated to federal committees over the entire 2025-26 election cycle is significantly higher than the $290 million he gave out in 2024 to help President Trump return to office, whenhe pledged to spend“around $45 million a month.” That’s despiteMusk announcing in Maylast year that “In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future.” He’sconsistently failedto stick to that promise so far.

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