Full Breakdown
Elon Musk’s $158 million boost to Ken Paxton’s Texas Senate campaign
By Drooid · · How we work
Core funding flow
Elon Musk, the Texas-resident billionaire who heads Tesla and SpaceX, contributed a total of $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) in September 2026. According to the New York Times, the donations were split into $75 million on September 9 and $83 million on September 23. Each contribution was transferred the next day by the SLF to a Texas-based super PAC (“Texas PAC”) that was created specifically to support Attorney General Ken Paxton’s bid to replace Senator John Cornyn. Mediaite and Just the News corroborate the same amounts and the same transfer pattern.
Background to the race
Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, is running as the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by John Cornyn. His Democratic opponent is state Rep. James Talarico. Paxton’s campaign has been outspent by his Democratic rival but remains financially viable because of Musk’s unprecedented contributions. Musk’s overall midterm spending, reported by Mediaite, exceeds $336 million for Republican candidates and committees, with $276 million occurring in the third quarter alone—more than the $290 million he spent supporting President Donald Trump in the 2024 cycle.
Financial scale and comparative spending
The $158 million directed to Texas PAC represents one of the largest single-candidate inflows in modern U.S. politics. Without Musk’s money, the Texas PAC would lack the resources to match the Democratic fundraising advantage. Just the News adds that Musk also contributed over $76 million to his own America PAC, which operates in seven Senate battleground states.
Official statements
No public comment from Musk or Paxton was recorded in the disclosed filings.