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Musk bankrolls PAC spending big on Paxton in Texas
Musk’s donations helped Republicans reserve over $159 million in ads and ground work, giving Paxton a major boost as Talarico outraised him.
- Federal Election Commission filings revealed Thursday that billionaire Elon Musk donated $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September, which subsequently transferred identical amounts to Texas PAC supporting Republican Ken Paxton's Senate campaign.
- Musk's team contacted Republicans in late August about what Axios called "a train wreck they all saw coming," warning the GOP must inject funds into Texas immediately or risk losing the Senate seat within weeks.
- Musk provided $10 million to the Lone Star Liberty PAC, matched by funds from SLF and the group itself, enabling Republicans to spend over $217 million on advertising in the Texas Senate race by month's end.
- Paxton faces Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who raised a record $64 million in the third quarter; while Republicans spent $122 million in September alone supporting Paxton, recent polls show Talarico with a lead within the margin of error.
- The influx provides Republicans a financial cushion as they fight to preserve their 53-seat Senate majority, with GOP leaders working to retain control of the chamber this November amid increasingly defensive national races.
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Elon Musk Wasting Hundreds Of Millions To Rescue Desperate Paxton
At the start of September, political analyst Nate Silver’s polling forecast had Texas’ Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico leading corrupt GOP candidate Ken Paxton by more than two points, 47.5 percent to 45.3 percent. Today, Talarico’s lead has increased to nearly three points, 48.3 percent to 45.5 percent. What’s amazing about that is Talarico’s numbers have gone up, while Paxton is mired in the same place he was six weeks ago—and all o…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources48
Leaning Left18Leaning Right5Center16Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Left
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources lean Left
46% Left
L 46%
C 41%
13%
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