Politics
• Analysis
Elon Musk becomes biggest political donor of 2026 midterms with $366m
Elon Musk is the biggest political donor of the 2026 US midterm elections cycle, spending about $366m on political groups and campaigns backing conservative candidates and rightwing causes - more than $276m of it since July alone.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 14, 2026
• 3 Min Read
Elon Musk has become the biggest political donor of the 2026 US midterm elections cycle, funneling about $366m into political groups and campaigns backing conservative candidates and rightwing causes. More than $276m of that has gone into politics since July alone - some of the most rapid political spending in US history, according to the report.
Where the $366m went
The spending is spread across a series of political action committees, including Musk's own America Pac, according to Reuters and the New York Times. His largest single spend was a $158m contribution to the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super Pac helping Republicans retain Senate control.
- •$158m to the Senate Leadership Fund
- •$76m to America Pac
- •$20m to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican Super Pac
- •$10m to the Republican Governors Association
- •$10m to a Pac supporting Ken Paxton, the Texas Republican Senate candidate
- •$10m in January to Nate Morris, a Kentucky Republican Senate candidate who withdrew from the race in May to become US ambassador to Colombia
Spending outpaces 2024
The midterms outlay exceeds Musk's contributions to the 2024 presidential election, when he sank nearly $300m into Donald Trump's re-election campaign. The spending numbers, first reported by the New York Times, will be released in a federal filing on Thursday.
A fight for the Senate
Musk is targeting key races that will determine which party controls the US Senate. In Texas, the $10m supports Paxton, who faces the Democratic nominee James Talarico.
Some of Musk's money funds advertising focused on anti-transgender rhetoric and accusing Democratic candidates of being radical socialists. Over the weekend, Musk reposted an America Pac video showing Talarico's previous statements on gender, calling it "madness".
Return of the top Republican mega-donor
The spending reasserts the SpaceX and Tesla CEO as the top Republican mega-donor. It reverses a period in the middle of last year when Musk claimed he would step back from making such large-scale political donations, after Doge failures, public backlash and a falling out with Trump. Last year, Musk led the Trump administration's efforts to gut federal agencies.
At nearly $1tn in net worth, Musk's $366m outlay represents about less than 0.04% of his fortune, according to the report.
The full spending figures will appear in a federal filing on Thursday.
