Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico of Texas released a new ad Thursday that goes after billionaire Elon Musk. It says Musk is spending heavily to help Republican nominee Ken Paxton win the seat. The video, posted on X, tells Musk "Texas is not for sale." 1
The ad says the same super PACs are paying for nearly all the attack ads against Talarico. A super PAC is an outside group that can raise unlimited money but is not supposed to coordinate with a campaign. The narrator says Musk is funding those groups and is "almost single-handedly bankrolling the effort to install Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate." 1
There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator.
A public feud with Musk
The ad arrived amid a back-and-forth between the two men. On Wednesday, Musk wrote on X that something is deeply wrong with Talarico. On Thursday, he posted another attack on Talarico while reposting a video about voter-ID requirements. 1
Talarico answered Wednesday. He wrote that "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator." 1
From Channel GOPTalarico: Elon Musk is trying to buy Texas Senate seatJames Talarico · 134 plays · captioned, with the source named
What the money shows
CNBC calculates that Musk has spent about $366 million across 40 races this cycle, making him the largest individual donor. At least $189.6 million of that has supported Paxton, by CNBC's count. 1
The Texas Tribune reported on Oct. 15, citing Federal Election Commission filings, that Musk gave $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund on Sept. 9. That group is a Republican super PAC focused on Senate races. It moved the money to a new super PAC called Texas PAC the next day. About two weeks later, Musk gave another $83 million, which was also passed to Texas PAC. 2
According to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, the Senate Leadership Fund has spent more than $159 million through Texas PAC on TV, radio and digital ads. The Tribune says that is about double what Talarico's own campaign has spent. 2
The fund's executive director, Alex Latcham, told Bloomberg TV the group would "spend nearly $200 million in that race." The Tribune said Paxton has not publicly commented on Musk's support. 2
Where the race stands
An average of polls compiled by FiftyPlusOne shows Talarico ahead of Paxton by three percentage points as of Oct. 23. 1 Talarico also raised $64 million from July through September, a record for a Senate candidate in a third quarter, according to the Tribune. 2
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Texas voters will decide the race.
That matters because the spending gap is large. Talarico is trying to make Musk's money the issue, which turns a flood of outside advertising into an argument about who a senator would answer to. The ad's claims about Musk's motives are Talarico's campaign's argument, not findings of wrongdoing, and the sources here do not show any deal between Musk and Paxton.
The Record
- Musk gave $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which moved it to Texas PAC the next day 2
- Texas Tribune reported FEC filings showing Musk appears to have put nearly $190 million into the Texas Senate race 2
- Musk and Talarico traded posts on X; Talarico called the system one that lets one trillionaire buy a senator 1
- Talarico campaign's new ad says 'Texas is not for sale' and targets Musk's spending for Paxton 1
Sources
- CNBC, “Texas Senate race: Talarico campaign turns its fire on Elon Musk” (2026-10-23). cnbc.com/2026/10/23/james-talarico-campaign-ad-elon-musk-tex
- The Texas Tribune, “Elon Musk donations to Senate GOP super PAC for Ken Paxton” (2026-10-15). texastribune.org/2026/10/15/elon-musk-ken-paxton-donations-s
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