# Elon Musk Funds Ken Paxton Senate Race

> Elon Musk's $158 million political donations support Texas senator Ken Paxton's Senate bid.
- Title: Elon Musk Funds Ken Paxton Senate Race · Houstonchronicle
- Summary: Elon Musk's $158 million political donations support Texas senator Ken Paxton's Senate bid. Elon Musk donated $158 million to a super PAC backing Ken Paxton…
- Keywords: elon musk, ken paxton, senate, texas, political donations, super pac, james talarico, news, local, Elon, Musk, Funds
- Source: Houstonchronicle — https://houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/elon-musk-paxton-22480310.php
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: elon musk, ken paxton, senate, texas, political donations, super pac, james talarico, news, local
## New Political Donations
Elon Musk donated $158 million to a super PAC supporting Ken Paxton's Senate bid.
## Funding Through Senate Leadership Fund
Musk gave $158 million in political donations routed through the Senate Leadership Fund to support Ken Paxton.
## Timeline of Donations
Musk gave $75 million to SLF, which transferred $75 million to the Texas PAC, then gave $83 million to SLF for another transfer.
## Senate Republicans' Situation
Senate Republicans needed Musk's funding to defend Ken Paxton after polls showed a tight race with limited fundraising.
## Political Context
Senate Republicans had backed Ken Paxton over Senator John Cornyn, who lost in a runoff after Trump endorsed Paxton.
## Democratic Response
Democrats criticized Musk's influence as undue political money from billionaires.

> I don’t care if they’re Democratic super PACs or Republican super PACs, I think we’ve got to ban them all because there’s way too much influence from big money in our politics
## Key takeaway

Elon Musk donated $158 million to a super PAC backing Ken Paxton in his U.S. Senate race against Democrat James Talarico.