At about this moment in the 2022 election cycle, the Washington Post published a list of that year’s top 50 political contributors, including individuals like George Soros and Larry Ellison, and organizations like the American Action Network and the National Association of Realtors. Notably missing on this list was the name of Elon Musk.
What Musk has done in the two election cycles since then is unprecedented in modern politics. Not only has he far surpassed the mere billionaires who topped the list four years ago in financial contributions. He has “created something of a shadow Republican National Committee” by largely taking over the party’s get-out-the vote operation, according to a recent analysis in Wired magazine.
Musk is doing this at a time when he has emerged as a powerful figure in President Donald Trump’s financial and foreign policy. It’s hard to think of anyone in American history who has gained this much influence with a president, and for much of that influence, Musk has written a check.
As a result, the finances for the two parties have taken opposite directions, with Democrats increasingly relying on small-check donations and Republicans, increasingly, on a single trillionaire.
In 2024, Musk spent $290 million in support of Trump and several Republican congressional candidates. Much of that money was thrown around carelessly in projects like the million-dollar giveaway program which has resulted in numerous lawsuits. But Musk’s massive financial support, along with his social media influence as the owner of X, was unquestionably a factor in Trump’s re-election.
His most significant move in this first full-scale involvement in politics was the creation, along with a group of tech investors, of America PAC, the superpac which has become the vehicle for Musk’s ongoing interest in voter turnout operations.
Despite announcing last year that he’d “done enough” and would be reducing his involvement in politics, Musk has quietly — if you can speak of $366 million for the year so far as “quietly” — surpassed his total spending record of two years ago. And he’s still spending. His third quarter financial report, released last week, listed an astonishing $276 million.
At a time when the effectiveness of media spending is coming increasingly in doubt, it seemed shrewd for Musk to steer his dollars toward traditional door-to-door canvassing, but America PAC’s voter turnout methods have come in question.
Back in February, the State Election Board sent America PAC a letter of reprimand after finding that voters in Chattooga, Cherokee, Coweta, Floyd, and Whitfield counties received partially pre-filled ballots in the mail, a violation of state law. The mailings also weren’t marked with the required notice that they weren’t from the government.
Also, several Georgia residents were involved in a group of class action suits settled by Musk and America PAC last week. In these cases, canvassers claimed they had been promised up to $100 per signature and were not paid.
The actual work of ringing doorbells and giving the person-to-person pitch is subcontracted and sub-subcontracted out around the country to a number of local firms. Some disgruntled canvassers have complained of unreasonably high work quotas and poor working conditions.
All the same, that much money rings a lot of doorbells. It’s going to be hard to know how much effect that will have before the election’s over.
By far the biggest individual recipient of Musk’s money is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in that state’s U.S. Senate race. Musk, who is a Texas resident, has given Paxton some $190 million.
These millions are being spent amid growing outrage in Europe over Musk’s role in the sudden disruption in Ukraine’s Starlink missile defense system at a time when the country is under heavy Russian attack.
Neither Trump nor Musk has taken responsibility for the throttling of the vital system, but the Telegraph in London reported that Musk approached Trump with the idea of slowing down the system, and Trump agreed.
When he got involved in U.S. politics in 2024, Musk said he did so because he was worried about the national debt. He solution was the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he briefly headed. The national debt at that time was over $35 trillion. It’s over $40 trillion today. Musk said last week the only way now to slow down its growth is through AI and robots, in which he is heavily invested.
Meanwhile, we’re going to Mars.
