Elon Musk's America PAC Spends Heavily on Attack Ads in Key Senate Races
Elon Musk's America PAC is targeting key Senate contests with a strategy that heavily emphasizes negative advertising against Democrats, allocating nearly three times as much for attacks as it does for Republican support. WIRED is monitoring the PAC's advertising spending. The GOP faces the possibility of losing its Senate majority if Democrats manage to win four competitive races while retaining three seats. In Texas, the PAC has invested over $9.4 million to oppose Democrat James Talarico and $1.8 million in favor of Republican Ken Paxton. In Ohio, $3.3 million has been directed against Democrat Sherrod Brown, with $1.6 million supporting Republican Jon Husted. In Iowa, $1.5 million is aimed at Democrat Josh Turek, while only $100,000 backs Republican Ashley Hinson, who currently leads Turek by one point in a traditionally secure district.
Key facts
- America PAC has spent nearly three dollars attacking Democrats for every dollar supporting Republicans.
- WIRED created a live tracker updating daily to monitor America PAC's digital ad and mailer spending.
- In Texas, America PAC spent over $9.4 million against James Talarico and about $1.8 million for Ken Paxton.
- The largest single expenditures were two $1.3 million digital media buys opposing Talarico.
- In Ohio, America PAC spent $3.3 million against Sherrod Brown and $1.6 million for Jon Husted.
- In Iowa, America PAC spent $1.5 million against Josh Turek and only $100,000 for Ashley Hinson.
- A New York Times/Siena poll shows Ashley Hinson leading Josh Turek by one point.
- Democrats need to flip four battleground races and retain three seats to take the Senate majority.
Entities
Artists
- Elon Musk
- James Talarico
- Ken Paxton
- Donald Trump
- Sherrod Brown
- Jon Husted
- Josh Turek
- Ashley Hinson
- Hugo Lowell
Institutions
- America PAC
- WIRED
- MAGA Inc.
- Senate Republican Conference
- Texas PAC
- Punchbowl News
- Nvidia
- OpenAI
- New York Times
- Siena College
Locations
- Texas
- United States
- Ohio
- Iowa
- Iran