Elon Musk gives $276 million to Republicans in three months, becoming the midterms’ biggest donor

Elon Musk has given more than $276 million to Republican groups since July, making him the largest known donor of the 2026 midterm elections, according to figures first reported by The New York Times on Monday and confirmed by a spokesman for his super PAC.

The largest single gift, $158 million, went to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates and one aligned with Majority Leader John Thune. CNBC described it as among the largest known political donations by an individual in U.S. history.

More than $76 million went to America PAC, the committee Musk founded in 2024. He also gave $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which backs House Republicans, $10 million to the Republican Governors Association, $2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association and $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, which supports Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee in Texas. Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico.

The totals bring Musk’s disclosed giving this cycle, which began on Jan. 1, 2025, to about $366 million. The Times reported that he has also given through groups that do not disclose their donors. By comparison, campaign finance records showed about $277 million of his spending in the 2024 election.

America PAC is using its money to run a voter-turnout operation in seven battleground states and nearly three dozen House races, Reuters reported. The Hill said Musk authorized the committee in the summer to spend $100 million to $120 million on a field program for the midterms.

The giving reverses a statement from May 2025, when Musk said he planned to cut back. “I think I’ve done enough,” he said then. His public falling-out with President Donald Trump followed, and he raised the idea of a third party. The two have since reconciled, and Trump gave Musk the National Medal of Science on Oct. 8.

America PAC spokesman Andrew Romeo defended the donations. “These robust investments have allowed the G.O.P. apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history,” he told the Times. He added that if Democrats win control of Washington and key state offices, “America risks becoming a socialist, woke and borderless country.” Lauren French, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic counterpart, accused Republicans of using money to overcome dissatisfaction with their candidates, the president and the economy.

Republicans are defending their majorities against voter worries about living costs, Trump’s standing and the war with Iran. The Senate Leadership Fund had been missing one of its biggest past backers. Timothy Mellon, who gave nearly $200 million to Republicans in 2024, had given nothing publicly to Senate Republicans this cycle, the Times reported last month, citing his anger over the failed SAVE America Act. Musk’s check is larger than any gift Mellon made in 2024.

The scale is large for a donor, but small against Musk’s fortune. His $366 million is less than 0.04% of the roughly $997 billion Forbes estimated for him last week. The new gifts are due to appear in federal filings by Oct. 15, and voting is on Nov. 3.

House Democrats have called for investigations into SpaceX’s government contracts and Musk’s work leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Reuters reported. Such calls do not establish wrongdoing, and the donations do not by themselves show Musk’s reasons for backing particular groups.