Elon Musk Spent Nearly $500 Million on the 2026 Midterms. Most Called Races Went Against Him.
Elon Musk spent nearly $500 million backing Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections, Engadget reported on November 4, 2026. Democrats now control Congress after the vote, according to the Wall Street Journal.
CNBC put Musk's total at no less than $474 million, a record for the midterms. The Wall Street Journal reported that he spent more than $440 million. Both figures were published on November 4. The total is expected to rise once donations made after October 14 are reported.
Musk was the largest individual donor in the midterms, spending more than three times as much as Dick and Liz Uihlein, who ranked second. He backed Republicans in 106 House and Senate races. As of publication, 18 of those candidates had won, mostly in very safe Republican districts. Forty-five had lost, and 43 had not yet been called.
About $225 million went to Texas, Musk's home state. Ken Paxton was the Republican Senate nominee there. Reuters reported that Texas flipped blue in the 2026 elections. The New York Times reported that SpaceX and Tesla stocks fell after the vote. Musk is chief executive of both companies.
The spending ran through America PAC, a political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) under committee ID C00879510. The FEC classifies it as a committee that makes only independent expenditures, meaning spending made on its own rather than handed to a campaign. Its 2026 filings name Musk in connection with those expenditures and list the Elon Musk Revocable Trust at an Austin, Texas address. The FEC's data tools report money raised and spent as adjusted receipts and adjusted disbursements for PACs, parties and congressional filers.
The spending grew through the cycle. Reuters reported on October 12 that Musk had spent roughly $366 million in the 2026 midterm cycle, of which $276 million came after July. He intended the money to help Republicans retain control of Congress. By November 2, Reuters Breakingviews reported that he had spent more than $400 million, and that Democrats had vowed to probe his companies in connection with the elections.
Musk joked on November 4 about the Republican defeat, according to Le Monde.
In my view, the paper trail matters more than the headline total. Because the spending can be traced race by race and date by date, anyone who wants to judge what concentrated political spending buys now has a measurable record to examine, and the Democratic inquiries have a documentary base to work from.
