Trump’s PAC abandoned Ken Paxton.
But then Elon Musk showed up.
And the machine Elon Musk built that put Donald Trump back in the White House is aimed at Texas – and Democrats have no answer for what’s coming.
Musk Walks Into the Fight Republicans Walked Away From
Ken Paxton has been fighting for the Texas Senate seat largely alone.
Trump’s own MAGA Inc. super PAC has not spent a dollar on his race.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s Senate Leadership Fund has also sat on its hands.
The GOP establishment looked at Paxton – the attorney general who knocked out career Washington Republican John Cornyn in the primary – and decided he was on his own.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2095322147379884153?s=20
Elon Musk just decided differently.
Between August 19 and August 31, America PAC reported just over $800,000 in midterm spending across Republican races nationwide.
The biggest single target: Paxton’s Senate campaign.
America PAC dropped nearly $248,000 in Texas – $125,000 directly supporting Paxton and $123,000 hammering Democrat James Talarico through direct mail.
Why Texas Is Ground Zero
Democrats think they can flip Texas.
Talarico – a state representative who has built his entire campaign around attacking “billionaire interests” – is polling within striking distance of Paxton.
Paxton beat establishment favorite John Cornyn in the primary, which made the race competitive but left him without the donor infrastructure Cornyn spent 24 years building in Washington.
Paxton is the fighter.
He just isn’t the safe pick.
The distinction matters because midterms without Trump on the ballot are turnout operations, and Paxton needs conservatives who might stay home in November to show up instead.
https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2095325473827860542?s=20
That is exactly the problem America PAC was built to solve.
The PAC knocked on more than 10 million doors in 2024 – all of it focused on reaching conservative voters who typically skip non-presidential elections.
Now it’s deploying that same infrastructure in a state Democrats have been circling for years.
The Number Democrats Don’t Want You to See
The Texas spending is a preview.
Musk has authorized America PAC to spend between $100 million and $120 million across the full 2026 midterm cycle – with Senate battles in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Ohio already locked in and negotiations ongoing about Texas, North Carolina and Georgia.
Republicans already hold a $300 million-plus advantage over Democrats in super PAC and party fundraising – and that number doesn’t include the $400 million sitting in Trump’s MAGA Inc. war chest.
Democrats are already worried about being outspent by historic margins.
Trump’s senior political adviser James Blair called America PAC “an essential partner for our historic GOTV operation in 2024.”
He also said the PAC’s return is “a huge boost for Republicans across the country.”
Democrats planned their entire midterm strategy around conservatives staying home.
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2082958182754742540?s=20
Musk just hired the people whose only job is to make sure that doesn’t happen.
What Democrats Are Missing About Wisconsin
Democrats have one answer to all of this: Wisconsin.
In April, Musk spent $21 million on a Wisconsin Supreme Court race and lost by 10 points.
They’re betting that story repeats itself – that his involvement energizes their base, depresses his, and turns every race he touches into a referendum on DOGE.
Here’s what they’re missing.
Wisconsin in April was a special election – low turnout, wall-to-wall media attention, a race tailor-made for nationalizing a single villain and driving Democrats to the polls.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2092793642972790987?s=20
A November midterm in Texas is a completely different animal.
It’s door-to-door in neighborhoods Democrats don’t visit.
It’s direct mail reaching the conservative grandmother who voted for Trump in 2024 and needs one good reason to show up without him on the ballot.
Musk learned the Wisconsin lesson – he won’t be holding rallies or appearing on stage this cycle, letting the PAC work in the background reaching voters Democrats will never see coming.
The GOP establishment left Paxton alone in a race that could flip the Senate.
Musk looked at that situation and wrote the check.
Sources:
- Robert Schmad, “Musk picks his first GOP warriors as a 2026 money surge takes shape,” Fox News, September 3, 2026.
- Axios, “Exclusive: Musk plans massive push for GOP in midterms,” July 29, 2026.
- Washington Examiner, “Elon Musk PAC to ‘team’ up with GOP campaign apparatus with major cash infusion,” July 2026.
- Kayla Guo, “Ken Paxton and James Talarico are neck and neck in U.S. Senate race, new poll finds,” Texas Tribune, June 23, 2026.