Musk's donation to the Paxton super PAC

Elon Musk gave $10m to Lone Star Liberty Pac, the committee dedicated to supporting Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate in the Texas Senate race. The gift was made after Senate Leadership Fund president Alex Latcham requested the funding, and a source familiar with the matter confirmed the reporting to the Guardian.

The $10m came on top of a far larger commitment. In September alone, Musk gave $158m to the Senate Leadership Fund, the primary super political action committee (Pac) backing Republican Senate candidates, according to Axios. That donation accounted for more than half of the Senate Leadership Fund's fundraising in the third quarter.

Why Paxton needed the money

Axios reported that analysis of polling by Musk's team and the Senate Leadership Fund found Paxton's chances of winning dwindling, leading Musk to step in. The Senate Leadership Fund had warned months earlier that supporting Paxton would cost anywhere from $150m to $200m.

Republicans had also struggled to match spending by James Talarico, who over the summer released an ad painting Paxton negatively as a politician with a history of corruption. Donald Trump chose Paxton himself to run against Talarico.

Talarico's record fundraising

Talarico enters the final stretch with a fundraising record behind him. He raised $64m in the third quarter, the largest third-quarter fundraising of a Senate candidate in history, Politico reported.

The Democrat, a young progressive known for faith-based messaging, made strides with liberal voters in Texas when he defeated an established Democrat for the Senate nomination earlier this year.

A costly, close race

The contest is one of the most competitive races in the country and was expected to cost millions of dollars, since Texas is expensive to campaign in. Polls have shown the two candidates are essentially tied, though some have Talarico polling narrowly ahead of Paxton.

A Democratic strategist in Texas told Politico that Talarico faces the Republican fundraising machine largely by himself.

The election is set for November, as part of the midterm elections, with polls showing the two candidates essentially tied.