Elon Musk's $158 Million Boosts GOP Senate Super PAC to Record $273 Million Quarter

The Senate Leadership Fund, the Republican Party's leading Senate super PAC, raised $272.9 million between July and September — the largest quarterly haul in its history — and entered the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm election with more than $155 million in cash, according to a Federal Election Commission filing made Thursday.

Donors supplied $209.7 million of that total, with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk providing the bulk of it. Musk gave $158 million in September through a Texas PAC affiliated with the SLF that was created to support Republican Ken Paxton. His two contributions, of $75 million and $83 million, are among the largest political donations ever made.

Musk total tops Democratic group's quarter

Musk's contribution alone exceeded the entire third-quarter fundraising of the Democratic Senate Majority PAC, which reported raising a record $151 million during the period. That group ended September with $111.8 million in cash and said the total was its third-quarter record; its FEC filings are not yet available.

The SLF's haul shattered its own previous records. It brought in nearly $116 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $111 million in 2022. In 2020, when it filed monthly reports, it took in roughly $157 million from July through September, and its previous quarterly high was roughly $216 million in the final three months of that year, according to a CNBC review of FEC filings.

Where the money is going

The record influx gives Republicans a sizable financial cushion as they fight to preserve their 53-seat Senate majority in contests that have become increasingly defensive in the closing weeks of the campaign.

The SLF paused additional advertising in perennial battleground North Carolina this month after spending more than $30 million there, according to AdImpact data, and redirected resources toward Kansas, where Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces an unexpectedly competitive challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton.

In Nebraska, the super PAC has committed $15 million to defend Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, including $7 million through the affiliated Cornhusker Majority, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. President Trump carried Nebraska by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

Texas has also been a central focus. Democrat James Talarico has turned what had been expected to be a safe GOP Senate contest into one of the most expensive races in the country. Republican groups spent roughly $122 million in Texas in September alone and had another $66 million in advertising reserved through Election Day as of the beginning of October, according to AdImpact data.

Talarico announced Thursday that he raised $64 million in the third quarter, the largest third-quarter haul on record for a Senate candidate. Paxton raised $10.2 million, according to a FEC filing.

Source: CNBC.