Elon Musk's pro-Trump super PAC is spending millions on House races
A conservative group backed by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and several other tech figures has started spending millions of dollars in more than a dozen tight House races.
The super political action committee America PAC has invested at least $2.4 million across 15 Congressional races, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission this week. That’s in addition to the more than $59 million the group has spent, directly and indirectly, on former President Donald Trump’s bid for the White House in the 2024 election cycle.
All but two of those House races are likely to be tight when voters go to the polls in November, according to the Cook Political Report, which rates most of them as “toss ups.” The other two, Ohio’s ninth district and Iowa’s third district, are rated as leaning in favor of their respective Democratic and Republican incumbents.
But the PAC is unlikely to stop there. Punchbowl News on Monday reported that America PAC has earmarked more than $10 million for get out the vote operations in House races, including New York and California.
In Nevada and Arizona, where America PAC has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, the group just replaced its canvassing firm after being dissatisfied with its speed, the New York Times reported Tuesday. The September Group had knocked on about 250,000 doors in Arizona and 150,000 in Nevada over its three weeks working for America PAC. The PAC also replaced its main vendor over the summer in a move praised by Trump’s team.
Musk, who takes credit for the PAC, in July said the group “is not supposed to be a sort of hyperpartisan” organization, but that his principles are currently aligned with the idea of “Make America Greater.” It’s unclear how much Musk plans to personally contribute to the PAC, although the Wall Street Journal had reported he would donate as much as $45 million per month to pro-Trump efforts. Musk has denied that claim.
Musk — who leads artificial intelligence startup xAI, brain chip startup Neuralink, and aerospace firm SpaceX — is eyeing a post overseeing a commission “tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government” in a potential Trump administration. SpaceX was fined by regulators Wednesday, and Musk said the company plans to sue the FAA over the $633,009 penalty.
Besides Musk, America PAC has been backed by the billionaire Winklevoss twins, Sequoia Capital partners, and Ken Howery, a former ambassador to Sweden and co-founder of PayPal (PYPL), among others. The group is being investigated by authorities in Michigan and North Carolina over a misleading website that promoted voter registration help, but appeared to focus more on collecting data.
