Musk Quietly Funnels $5.2 Million Into Texas Senate Race as Republicans Shield Paxton
Updated
Updated · NBC News · Sep 21
Musk Quietly Funnels $5.2 Million Into Texas Senate Race as Republicans Shield Paxton
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Sep 21
Summary
$5.2 million from Elon Musk’s America PAC has already gone into Texas for digital ads, mail, live calls and pamphleting to help Ken Paxton, with Republicans expecting that total to rise sharply.
Republican strategists want Musk offstage after his high-profile Wisconsin push ended in a 10-point loss, arguing public attention on him could hurt Paxton more than help.
The spending is helping reverse Paxton’s early cash disadvantage after James Talarico held $21 million to Paxton’s $1.7 million at the end of June, with MAGA Inc. and other GOP groups now piling in.
America PAC has spent $14.7 million across congressional races nationwide, but Texas is its biggest target so far, ahead of Senate contests in Ohio and Michigan.
The quiet intervention underscores Republican concern that scandal-hit Paxton remains vulnerable in a state Democrats have not won statewide in 30 years, making Texas an unexpectedly expensive midterm battleground.