Elon Musk spent $277 million to elect Trump and other Republicans as he campaigned aggressively in Pennsylvania
A little more than $1 million of Musk’s PAC money flowed to entities based in Pennsylvania.
Elon Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars on electing Donald Trump this year — an investment that was particularly focused on Pennsylvania.
A federal election report released this week showed Musk, the world’s richest man, dumped at least $277 million into nationwide efforts to elect Trump and other Republicans.
According to campaign finance disclosures, Musk’s super PAC raised a quarter of a billion dollars since its creation in May 2024. Roughly $238 million of that sum came from the tech billionaire himself, or entities directly linked to him — like a corporation he created earlier this year, called United States of America Inc.
Musk dedicated the last four months of the race to getting Trump elected, campaigning in Pennsylvania, and funding ads and canvassing efforts in the crucial swing state. Now, as Trump prepares to take office a second time, Musk has been named the colead of a new office of government efficiency, called DOGE, along with tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk, the Tesla CEO and X chairman, has become part of Trump’s inner circle, appearing frequently with him at Mar-a-Lago.
And Musk has indicated he wants his America PAC, which had about $2 million cash left on hand as of Nov. 25, to continue its work by targeting progressive district attorneys, including Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who is up for reelection next year.
Where Musk’s money went
The vast majority of the PAC’s funds flowed to out-of-state PR firms for ad buys, or political consultancies for canvassing operations, many of which targeted voters in the Keystone State.
But a little over $1 million flowed directly to entities based in Pennsylvania.
Close to half that amount went to Red Maverick Media, a Harrisburg-based consulting firm cofounded by longtime strategists Ray Zaborney and Mike Leavitt, mostly to fund political mailers.
Zaborney’s firm has worked with the campaign arm of the state GOP to reelect representatives in Harrisburg and also lobbies lawmakers there. He and his wife have advised Pennsylvania Congressional Republican campaigns, including for U.S. Reps. Dan Meuser and John Joyce.
Much of the remainder of the PAC money went to fund event costs — facility rentals, event staff costs and payments to local law enforcement for security services. The PAC also spent $13,000 shortly before election night to secure a catered space at the Four Seasons in Center City, a five-star hotel.
Musk also made additional donations to Trump-aligned groups bringing his total buy-in this year to roughly $277 million. That includes a $20 million donation to RBG PAC — a committee named after former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to the denouncement of her family — that sunk money into ads designed to make Trump appear more supportive of abortion access.
About $40.5 million of America PAC’s money notably went toward checks to voters in swing states across the country, including some in Pennsylvania.
The PAC offered registered voters in Pennsylvania $100 to sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments, and another $100 to refer another signer. In late October, Musk announced he would start awarding $1 million checks each day through Nov. 5 to swing state voters who signed up.
Legal challenges to the petitions — including one from Krasner — failed in court, but the giveaway continues to draw criticism from some Pennsylvania residents who said they got checks without participating in the petition.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General Office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection received about 20 complaints statewide regarding unsolicited and unwanted $100 checks that appear to be from Musk’s pro-Donald Trump America PAC, The Inquirer reported this week.
America PAC claims on its website that individuals who participated in the cash-prize program were thoroughly evaluated for eligibility.
Musk’s focus on Pennsylvania
Musk endorsed Trump on July 13, shortly after Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler. He became a loyal campaigner from that moment on, with an intense focus on delivering Pennsylvania for Trump.
From a centralized hub in Pittsburgh, Musk crisscrossed the state ahead of the election, appearing with Trump in his return to Butler on Oct. 5, and visiting a Delaware County high school to stump for him later that month. He made at least four check giveaway appearances in the state in the run-up to the election.
It’s unclear how much of Trump’s win in Pennsylvania can be directly credited to Musk’s involvement. While Pennsylvania flipped to Trump, other swing states where Musk did not campaign, like Wisconsin and Michigan, did, too, amid a nationwide red wave.
Still, Pennsylvania’s margin for Trump was higher here, and the state’s longtime Democratic senator, Bob Casey, lost his reelection to Republican Dave McCormick while Democratic incumbent senators in the other swing states hung on.