Elon Musk Becomes Largest Donor of 2026 US Midterm Cycle With $366 Million
Elon Musk has become the largest donor of the 2026 US midterm cycle, directing about $366 million to political groups and campaigns, predominantly in support of conservative candidates and rightwing causes. More than $276 million has been contributed since July, an unusually rapid burst of spending that exceeds the nearly $300 million he put into Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election effort. The figures were first reported by the New York Times ahead of a federal filing.
The biggest single contribution was $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super Pac seeking to preserve Republican control of the Senate. Musk also gave $76 million to his own America Pac, $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, $10 million to the Republican Governors Association and $10 million to a group backing Ken Paxton in his closely watched Texas race against James Talarico. A further $10 million went to Nate Morris, who later withdrew from a Kentucky Senate contest to become US ambassador to Colombia.
The spending marks a reversal after Musk said last year that he would scale back large political donations following the troubled Doge initiative, public backlash and his falling out with Trump. Some of the money is funding advertisements built around anti-transgender messaging and claims that Democratic candidates are radical socialists. Although the donations rank among the largest in US history, $366 million is less than 0.04% of Musk’s nearly $1 trillion fortune.
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