Elon Musk, chief executive of electric-vehicle maker Tesla NASDAQ:TSLA and aerospace company SpaceX NASDAQ:SPCX, donated $5 million during the second quarter to support Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor, increasing his political spending ahead of the midterm elections. Federal Election Commission filings released Wednesday also showed that Musk provided less than $500,000 in in-kind contributions to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. These contributions brought Musk's disclosed spending for the current midterm cycle to at least $90 million. Ramaswamy, who briefly worked with Musk on the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, is running against Democrat Amy Acton in a race that the Cook Political Report recently shifted from Lean Republican to Toss-Up.
Musk has contributed roughly $50 million to America PAC during the 2025-26 election cycle, although the organization has not spent money on advertising this year, according to AdImpact. The advertising library of Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META, a social-media and technology company, also showed that America PAC had no active advertisements running on Facebook or Instagram. Musk's political spending this cycle remains below the $290 million he contributed to help elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates in 2024. His other disclosed contributions include $10 million each to the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund, $10 million to the Fight for Kentucky PAC, and several additional donations to political, legal-reform and judicial groups in Texas.
Investors may view Musk's growing political activity as relevant to the public perception surrounding the companies he leads, particularly because polling suggests that his personal brand remains divisive. A mid-June Economist and YouGov poll conducted following SpaceX's initial public offering found that 53% of respondents viewed Musk unfavorably, while 39% viewed him favorably. Musk's personal wealth reached $861 billion after SpaceX went public, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, potentially giving him significant capacity to increase his support for Republican candidates. However, the timing, size and structure of any additional political contributions remain uncertain.