Texas – James Talarico accused billionaire Elon Musk of trying to buy a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, escalating their public clash as Musk pours millions of dollars into political groups supporting Republican candidate Ken Paxton ahead of the November election.
“There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator,” Talarico wrote on X on October 22, responding to Musk’s post attacking him. The billionaire had written, “There is something deeply wrong with Talarico.”
The exchange followed an earlier video message in which Talarico accused Musk of trying to influence the Texas Senate race through a wave of political advertising, mailers and text messages targeting the Democratic candidate.
“Texas is not for sale,” Talarico declared in the video, arguing that Musk was using his immense wealth to help elect Paxton and stop the political movement his campaign had built across the state.
The dispute has drawn national attention as the contest between Talarico and Paxton becomes one of the most expensive Senate races in the country. Reports from The Texas Tribune, Reuters, ABC News and Forbes have detailed Musk’s financial support for Republican-aligned political groups and the growing role of outside spending in the race.
Talarico’s central accusation is that Musk has become the dominant financial force behind efforts to help Paxton win the seat. In his video, Talarico claimed Musk was responsible for attack advertisements on television, negative mailers and text messages aimed at influencing voters’ perceptions of his campaign.
“In all likelihood, if you’ve seen an attack ad on your TV, that was Elon,” Talarico said. “If you’ve gotten lies in your mailbox, that was Elon. If you’ve received a text message saying scary things about me, that was too.”
Talarico also contrasted the financial backing of the two campaigns, saying his movement was supported by 1.3 million individual donors, while Paxton’s campaign benefited from the support of a single billionaire.
“Ken Paxton is funded by one dude,” Talarico said.
Campaign finance reports have revealed the scale of Musk’s involvement. According to CBS News, Musk contributed $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September and later gave the group another $83 million. The Republican-aligned super PAC subsequently transferred matching amounts to Texas PAC, a group supporting Paxton in the race. The contributions brought Musk’s donations to the Senate Leadership Fund to $158 million during September alone.
The funding helped Republican-aligned groups expand their advertising efforts in Texas after Talarico’s campaign had spent months maintaining a stronger presence on the airwaves. The Texas Tribune reported that outside groups led by the Senate Leadership Fund had spent more than $217 million on advertising in the race by the end of September.
Reuters also reported this week that advertising spending in the contest had exceeded $500 million, making it the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history. Talarico raised $64 million during the third quarter, largely through small-dollar contributions, while Republican groups used the influx of outside money to increase their support for Paxton.
Musk has also used his own social media platform, X, to criticize Talarico directly. His October 21 post declaring that something was “deeply wrong” with the Democratic candidate prompted Talarico’s response the following day, turning the financial dispute into a direct public exchange between the two.
The race pits Talarico, a Democratic state representative from Texas, against Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general, in a contest that could affect the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. President Donald Trump has endorsed Paxton, adding another prominent figure to the Republican candidate’s campaign.
Talarico has made the influence of wealthy donors a central part of his message, portraying the contest as a choice between a grassroots campaign and an effort backed by some of the country’s wealthiest political donors. Musk’s financial contributions and public attacks have increasingly become a focus of that argument.
In his video, Talarico also accused Musk of wanting access to Texas land, water and taxpayer dollars, claiming the billionaire was seeking a senator who would advance his interests in Washington. Those statements reflect Talarico’s campaign allegations rather than an established finding about Musk’s motives.
“But on November 3rd, we’ll deliver a clear message to the world’s first trillionaire,” Talarico said. “Texas is not for sale.”
Musk and Paxton’s political allies have not necessarily accepted Talarico’s characterization of their spending, and the financial contributions themselves do not establish that Musk will control how Paxton would act as a senator. However, the scale of the donations and the increasingly personal exchange between Musk and Talarico have made billionaire influence a prominent issue in the final stretch of the Texas Senate campaign.
