Elon Musk, multibillionaire Trump supporter, contributed $158 million to support Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Republican campaign for the U.S. Senate.
The money arrived as his rival, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, raised $64 million in the third quarter for the hotly contested race.
The significant contributions illustrate the high stakes in the fight for control of the Senate, which Republicans now lead 53-47.
Talarico and Paxton are in a dead heat in Texas, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994, according to an average of recent polling by Real Clear Politics.
Trump campaigned in Texas three times in a month and said Oct. 15 that he would go back.
“I’ll go back,” Trump said. “If it’s necessary I’ll go back.”
Musk contributed nearly $300 million to Republican groups in 2024. He became top adviser to Trump as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk owns the social media platform X and is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, which has its corporate headquarters, a rocket testing facility, a spaceport for its Starship and a Starlink manufacturing plant in Texas.
Musk gave $75 million to SLF PAC, which is the Republican Leadership Fund, on Sept. 9, and $83 million to the PAC on Sept. 22.
SLF then immediately gave Texas PAC $75 million on Sept. 10 and $83 million on Sept. 24, which were the only two contributions the group received.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elon Musk gave $158M to groups supporting Paxton in close TX Senate race
