Can the world's wealthiest man buy a U.S. Senate seat for Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton? Democrats seem to think so.
Elon Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX from Texas, gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP's main super political action committee, according to recent filings. The donation has angered Democrats, none more than Paxton's opponent, state Rep. James Talarico. $158 million is a staggering sum, but it comes after the Democrat raised a record $64 million last quarter, more than triple Paxton's haul.
"Elon Musk wants our land. He wants our water. He wants his very own personal United States senator. He is trying to buy Texas," Talarico told a rally in Denton.
Musk has bankrolled the effort against Talarico
and made his contempt personal. "There is something deeply wrong with Talarico," Musk posted on X on Oct. 21. Talarico fired back: "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator."
Talarico led Paxton by several percentage points for weeks, and though the race now appears to be a dead heat several days into early voting, Texans could be on the verge of electing their first statewide Democrat in more than 30 years.
But the outrage over Musk's money says more about Talarico and his party's disdain for wealth, innovation and free political expression than it does about the world's richest man.
Talarico has a double standard on big money
Wealthy people have long poured extraordinary sums into politics. Musk's donation is huge, but for the world's wealthiest man, it's just pocket change. The notion that $158 million buys him a senator is absurd.
Money can't buy votes, but it can buy visibility, and Paxton, who has been badly outraised, needs a lot of it.
Talarico's outrage is hypocritical. He touts a campaign powered by small donors, yet he's also taken big money from billionaires, many of whom don't even live in Texas.
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, a California billionaire, gave $10 million to a super PAC backing Talarico. Celebrities including Bill Nye and Eagles cofounder Don Henley, who does live in Dallas, have given him money and star power, and several cast members of "Friday Night Lights" have joined him on the campaign trail. Deadline reported that Talarico has "been in Los Angeles repeatedly for a series of big-money fundraisers," including one at the home of James Costos, President Barack Obama's ambassador to Spain.
So Talarico is OK with Hollywood liberals and progressive billionaires, some with no ties to Texas, hosting fundraisers, stumping for him and writing million dollar checks – but Musk can't give to his opponent?
Musk has the same right to political expression as celebrities who can't stand Republicans. The irony is that Hollywood adored Musk until he started speaking up for conservative causes.
Democrats can't wait to investigate Musk
Musk's donation and his barrage of posts attacking Talarico have revived Democrats' disdain for him. Many are itching to investigate him over everything from SpaceX's federal contracts to Department of Government Efficiency firings to the throttling of Ukraine's access to Starlink.
"The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was blunter: "Congress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused, and we will not let anyone obstruct our oversight."
I don't think Musk is pouring money into this race because he fears a Democratic-led investigation into him, his companies or DOGE. Still, the way Democrats keep going after him tells you something.
Tesla and SpaceX are two of the most successful companies in America, and too many in the party see that success as grounds for a subpoena. Musk, like most conservatives, rejects the leftist impulse to grow the federal government, waste taxpayer dollars and punish innovation.
Talarico's progressive agenda – higher taxes, more regulation and cultural policies that hurt children – runs counter to Musk's values, too.
I don't know whether Musk's money will change minds or drive Republicans to the polls for Paxton. I do know he could buy an island and spend the rest of his life drinking margaritas on the beach. Instead, he's chosen to keep building companies and to spend his own money on candidates and issues he believes in.
Talarico accuses Musk of "buying" a senator while he courts Hollywood stars and progressive billionaires. The real question isn't whether Elon Musk is buying a senator. It's whether James Talarico would be complaining if Musk had written the check to him.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Talarico takes billionaires' cash but cries foul over Musk's | Opinion
