Elon Musk burst onto the political scene in 2024 with energetic rallies amid his full-throated support of President Donald Trump, but he’s taking an understated approach to next month’s midterm elections.
He’s instead letting his wallet do the talking.
While Musk isn’t on a campaign rally stage handing out giant checks to voters as he was before the 2024 presidential election and other contests, he is still poised to leave his mark this cycle.
That’s because while Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC had a $416 million campaign war chest at the end of August, it only spent $11.4 million that same month, $15 million in September, and about $126 million last month through spinoff super PACs, No Going Back PAC Inc. and Safety & Affordability PAC Inc.
Musk has quietly spent about $366 million since January 2025 on elections, $276 million of that since July, with little of the fanfare that was so common in 2024, becoming this cycle’s largest spender.
That total is more than the roughly $290 million he spent in 2024, the height of his political influence, boosting Trump and other federal candidates.
This time, however, his deeper war chest is also working to help get Republicans over the finish line in state races.
Musk, the world’s only trillionaire, has spent $76 million through his own super PAC, America PAC, in addition to donating $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund and another $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the Republican Senate and House super PACs. Musk, too, has given to the Republican Governors Association and Republican Attorneys General Association.
His donations to SLF, taken together, could amount to the largest political contribution in American history.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has also contributed $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC to support Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, who is, on average, in a statistical tie with Democratic opponent James Talarico.
“The biggest challenge for the GOP this cycle was always going to be funding advertising for an ever-expanding political map that now includes Kansas and South Carolina,” one Republican strategist working on midterm election campaigns, who was granted anonymity in order to speak candidly, told the Washington Examiner. “Elon’s donations to SLF, CLF, and America PAC have been a life raft for Republicans this cycle and have had far greater impact than if he had spent those resources on events or other initiatives.”
At the same time, Musk has not been splashy about it, particularly after spending $20 million through America PAC and other groups on the April 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, in which the conservative nominee Brad Schimel lost to liberal counterpart Susan Crawford by 10 points.
Musk campaigned for Schimel in person, at times wearing a cheesehead hat and at others awarding Wisconsin residents who voted in the election $1 million gimmick checks as he did for Pennsylvania residents who registered to vote before the 2024 election.
But in 2026, there’s been none of that pageantry as Republicans face long odds to hold both congressional majorities.
“Elon’s a smart guy,” another Republican strategist told the Washington Examiner. “He knows his political antics last cycle took a toll on his businesses and image. Looks like he’s learned his lesson and is going old school: less spotlight, more checks behind the scenes. Same influence, fewer headaches.”
“Tesla lost billions in market value, forcing him to take a step back as a business necessity,” a third GOP strategist said. “His contributions to the GOP are of course welcome and appreciated, but I think everyone can agree, including Musk himself, that his time is better spent improving humanity than revving a chain saw at a political rally.”
Musk, who was presented a “chainsaw for bureaucracy” by Argentine President Javier Milei at last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, did lose $113 billion on the stock market during the first 100 days of Trump’s second term amid backlash and boycotts over the entrepreneur’s role in the U.S. president’s administration, as well as $34 billion that he lost that June when he criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as an “outrageous, pork-filled abomination.”
Musk’s net worth, however, has since mostly recovered.
To that end, Musk’s average favorability rating — net negative 16 percentage points as of Wednesday, according to Decision Desk HQ — has additionally improved, although only slightly, since July 2025 when his favorability was at its nadir.
Some Republicans aren’t surprised by the backseat role Musk has taken.
For Republican strategist Rina Shah, Musk’s political strategy shift “makes sense if we look at how midterms actually work versus a presidential race.”
“In 2024, Elon Musk’s high-visibility approach — rallies, giant checks, constant X commentary — was aimed at the top of the ticket and towards generating energy,” Shah told the Washington Examiner. “Midterms are more about turnout mechanics in a handful of Senate and House races. Quiet funding of ground operations and outside groups is often more efficient for that, and it carries less risk of becoming the story itself.”
Candidates also generally prefer megadonors who write checks and stay off the stage so they “don’t have to answer for every tweet,” Shah added.
“Whether that calculation is right remains yet to be seen,” she said. “Money can still buy a lot of door-knocking, but it doesn’t automatically solve enthusiasm or messaging problems. It’s worth watching how much of the spending actually shows up as increased low-propensity turnout versus just more ads.”
In response, Democrats contesting competitive elections on Nov. 3 are trying to make a villain of Musk, who is generally an unpopular figure on the Left.
“Elon Musk is jumping into the New Hampshire Senate race,” Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) wrote in a fundraising email. “The richest man in the world is putting money into directly attacking me and boosting [Republican nominee John] Sununu.”
“With Elon Musk and national Republicans planning to spend millions more to fund attack ads, mailers, and smear campaigns targeted at swing voters plus now even Donald Trump coming here, it’s never been more critical that grassroots supporters like you rush in your support,” Iowa Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek wrote in a similar missive.
HAS TRUMP BROKEN HIS MCDONALD’S PROMISE?
Their criticism has been emphasized by the Democratic National Committee through spokeswoman Jaelin O’Halloran.
“Elon Musk dropping millions into the midterm elections tells you everything you need to know about the Republican Party: they are backed by out-of-touch billionaires, big corporations, and special interests who want to pull the wool over voters’ eyes,” O’Halloran told the Washington Examiner. “Make no mistake: Americans don’t want Musk buying our elections — and in less than three weeks, voters across the country will reject Trump and Republicans’ agenda of putting the wealthy and well-connected first, and everyday Americans last.”
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
