Musk donates $158m to Senate GOP super PAC supporting Paxton

Summarised from CBS News's report · Updated 16 Oct, 03:57 · Archive

Billionaire Elon Musk donated $158 million to the main super PAC supporting Senate Republicans, which forwarded the money to a group backing Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

Elon Musk donated $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC in September, which then disbursed the same amount to a group supporting Ken Paxton's bid for the Texas Senate seat. The donations came in two tranches: $75 million on 9 September and $83 million two weeks later, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Combined, these donations made up more than half of the super PAC's total receipts for the third quarter.

Republicans are fighting to hold the Texas Senate seat, which polls suggest is a tight race between Paxton and Democratic opponent James Talarico, who is attempting to become the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas in over three decades. Musk, a Texas resident whose companies SpaceX and Tesla operate extensively in the state, also donated more than $80 million to his own political group, America PAC, between July and September. The group reported spending on the Texas Senate contest and other competitive congressional races.

Read the report

• Musk donates over $150 million to Senate GOP group, assisting PaxtonBillionaire Elon Musk is offering a nine-figure assist to Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton, a decisive return to large-scale political giving for the world's richest man.CBS News · 16 Oct, 02:22

In this story: Elon Musk · Ken Paxton · James Talarico · Senate Leadership Fund · Texas PAC · America PAC · SpaceX · Texas

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