Talarico ties Musk to Paxton campaign
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The gist
Texas Democrat James Talarico said Elon Musk is bankrolling the effort to install Ken Paxton in the Senate.
The claim ties the world's richest man to one of the costliest Senate races.
Background
James Talarico is a Democratic state representative from Austin running for the U.S. Senate; Ken Paxton is Texas's attorney general and the Republican Senate candidate, who beat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a bitter primary earlier this year. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X, is described in the material as the world's richest man and a Texas resident. Reporting in October tied large Musk donations to a super PAC (an independent political committee that can spend unlimited sums) backing Paxton, and Talarico has made that funding a central line of attack before the Nov. 3 election.
How it unfolded
- Sep 9, 2025James Talarico's campaign started.
- Aug 2026Musk's political aides reached out to GOP officials warning Ken Paxton would lose without a huge, immediate spending boost.
- Sep 9, 2026Musk donated $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund; the next day the super PAC cut a check of the same amount to Texas PAC.
- Sep 23, 2026Musk donated $83 million to the Senate Leadership Fund; the next day the super PAC cut a check of the same amount to Texas PAC.
- Sep 2026Musk donated $190 million to Texas PAC, the majority of which was then used for Paxton's campaign.
- Oct 12, 2026The New York Times first reported Musk's new donations.
- Oct 15, 2026Axios reported Musk's aides' August warning to GOP officials; the Texas Tribune reported Musk is the donor behind Senate Republicans' rescue mission for Paxton.
- Oct 16, 2026The New York Times reported the $75 million and $83 million donations, each followed the next day by an equal check to Texas PAC, quoting that rarely has an individual donor been effectively tied to such a large commitment for a single candidate.
- Oct 19, 2026Early voting opened; Spectrum News published a report on Musk backing Paxton.
- Oct 20, 2026At a stop in Plano opening a statewide campaign swing, Talarico said Musk is bankrolling the effort to install Paxton.
- Oct 30, 2026Early voting ends.
- Nov 3, 2026Election Day.
Who’s saying what
- Talarico
- Talarico says Musk is trying to 'buy Texas' and that attack ads, mailers and texts against him trace back to the billionaire's money.
- Musk
- Musk said the Talarico campaign is not being honest about what's happening, and shared a post agreeing Democrats 'must lose' the midterms.
- Paxton
- Paxton has not publicly discussed Musk's support, and his campaign did not respond to a request for additional comment.
- Analyst
- Wilson, quoted by Spectrum News, said money can only pay for advertising and turnout efforts, and a billionaire's vote counts the same as any other Texan's.
Still unverified
Musk repeatedly boosted posts from right-wing users claiming Talarico was recently committed to an 'Ohio mental hospital'. The New York Times also noted the money sent to the Texas group was not necessarily Musk's, and super PAC officials have said publicly they were seeking new donations to finance a pro-Paxton operation.