Musk election spending targets Senate races tied to SpaceX and Tesla oversight

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Musk election spending targets Senate

Highlights

Musk has directed at least $276 million since July to Republican groups and America PAC, targeting Senate races that could influence regulatory decisions affecting SpaceX and Tesla.
SpaceX has already secured $6.78 billion in federal work for 2026, nearly double its 2024 total, while facing key government decisions on defense, launch licenses, and spectrum.
In Texas, Musk has allocated at least $189.6 million to support Ken Paxton and increased state-level spending as Tesla and SpaceX expand operations, including plans for an AI chip factory with Intel.

Political spending and business exposure

As first reported by CNBC, Musk’s largest political wager is on the Senate, where control could shape investigations, federal spending and regulatory decisions affecting his companies.

SpaceX has secured $6.78 billion in federal work so far in 2026, according to FedScout, nearly double its total for all of 2024. Tesla, SpaceX and Musk’s artificial intelligence business are also facing government decisions on defense spending, launch licenses, spectrum, autonomous vehicles, electricity and data centers.

At least $276 million of Musk’s election spending has gone since July to Republican groups and his own political organization, America PAC. Republicans are under pressure in several races on the cost of living and the war in Iran, while Democrats are favored to win the House and the Senate remains a toss-up.

Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability and a former chief investigator for the Senate banking committee, says Musk is seeking influence over Congress and the administration while trying to limit oversight. Musk does not respond to CNBC’s request for comment, but he attacks the prospect of Democrat-led investigations in a Wednesday post on X, saying those who confront him should expect retaliation.

Texas emerges as key battleground

Texas shows the clearest overlap between Musk’s political spending and operating footprint. Tesla is headquartered in Austin and runs its largest U.S. vehicle factory there, while SpaceX operates Starbase in South Texas and The Boring Co. is based in Pflugerville.

Those operations give Texas officials significant influence over taxes, electricity, permitting, infrastructure and economic-development incentives. Musk is directing at least $189.6 million to support Republican Ken Paxton through multiple channels, drawing criticism from Democratic opponent James Talarico, who accuses him of trying to buy the Senate seat.

Musk is also spending at the state level, with at least $6 million this cycle from him and his trust going to candidates and political groups including Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows. The company network in Texas is expanding further as Tesla and SpaceX plan an AI chip factory with Intel in Grimes County, just outside Austin, where longtime Musk lawyer and America PAC attorney Chris Gober is running for Congress.

For SpaceX, federal work remains central to the business. Since 2008, the company has received more than $30.7 billion in federal contracts, according to FedScout, excluding classified awards and some state-funded Starlink spending used in disaster recovery.

In our earlier article on Musk’s pledge to cover Grok-related transaction losses, we reported that he said SpaceX would reimburse users if the AI agent makes a financial mistake during a purchase or leaks card details—without clearly defining what would be covered. We also noted how emerging failures by AI agents across payments and bookings are intensifying the liability debate as these tools gain access to sensitive financial data.

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