Elon Musk pours $366M into midterm Republican campaigns

Elon Musk has poured roughly $366 million into the 2026 midterm cycle across at least 40 races, making him the biggest individual donor so far, with about $276 million flowing to Republican groups and his America PAC since July. The stated and evident aim of that spending is to preserve or expand Republican power in Washington to protect and advance his business interests; Democrats winning either chamber would invite subpoenas and investigations into his companies and federal contracts. Key political targets include a heavy bet in Texas - about $189.6 million routed to support Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton - as well as battleground investments in Ohio, Michigan and Maine, and a push to back Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The spending maps directly onto Musk’s commercial stakes. SpaceX and related ventures have collected more than $30.7 billion in federal work since 2008 and about $6.78 billion so far in 2026, including large Space Force awards worth $2.29 billion and $4.16 billion in May. Musk’s businesses face regulatory and funding decisions on defense contracts, launch licenses, spectrum, EV subsidies, autonomous vehicles, data centers and AI, and his Texas operations (Tesla, SpaceX, a planned Intel chip factory) give state officials leverage over permitting, electricity and incentives. Recent history shows large donations bought access and influence but also produced political fallout, underscoring why Musk’s latest spending is viewed as a bid to shape oversight and regulation.