Elon Musk cash infusion helps GOP Senate super PAC raise record $273 million

The Senate Leadership Fund, the Republican Party's leading Senate super PAC, posted the largest quarterly haul in its history and entered the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm election with more than $155 million in cash, according to a new Federal Election Commission filing Thursday.

The SLF brought in $272.9 million from July through September, including $209.7 million from donors — including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who supplied the bulk of that money.

Musk poured $158 million into the SLF in September through an affiliated Texas PAC created to support Republican Ken Paxton. His two contributions of $75 million and $83 million are among the largest political donations ever.

Musk's contribution alone also exceeded the Democratic Senate Majority PAC's entire third-quarter fundraising. That super PAC reported raising a record $151 million during the period and ended September with $111.8 million in cash, which the group said was its third-quarter record. The super PAC's FEC filings are not yet available.

The SLF's haul shattered its own previous records. The group brought in nearly $116 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $111 million in 2022. In 2020, when it filed monthly reports, SLF took in roughly $157 million from July through September. Its previous quarterly high was roughly $216 million in the final three months of 2020, according to a CNBC review of FEC filings.

The record influx gives Republicans a sizable financial cushion as they fight to preserve their 53-seat Senate majority across the country that has become increasingly defensive in the closing weeks of the election.

The SLF paused additional advertising in perennial battleground North Carolina this month after spending more than $30 million there — according to AdImpact data — and redirected resources toward Kansas, where Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces an unexpectedly competitive challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton.

In Nebraska, SLF has committed $15 million to defend Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, including $7 million through the affiliated Cornhusker Majority, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Trump carried Nebraska by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

The super PAC has also been central to the Republican intervention in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico has turned what had been expected to be a safe GOP Senate contest into one of the most expensive races in the country.

Republican groups spent roughly $122 million in Texas in September alone and had another $66 million in advertising reserved through Election Day as of the beginning of October, according to AdImpact data.