Elon Musk's dark money is a corporate takeover of Texas

By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit · October 23, 2026

Elon Musk spent $366 million to install loyalists like Ken Paxton in the 2026 midterms, proving that our democracy is now a private investment for the ultra-wealthy.

Elon Musk is not participating in our democracy. He is attempting to purchase it. By spending approximately $366 million in the midterms, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has turned the 2026 election into a private auction. This is not about "free speech" or political disagreement. It is about a trillionaire using his wealth to buy the people who write the laws. When one man becomes the largest individual donor of an election cycle, the voters are no longer the bosses. The donors are.

Buying a personal senator

In Texas, this corporate takeover has a name: Ken Paxton. According to CNBC, Musk has poured at least $189.6 million into supporting Paxton's run for the U.S. Senate. This money does not flow through transparent channels. It moves through dark money groups and super PACs. Federal filings show that Paxton's campaign is financially intertwined with the Club for Growth PAC. This is a known architect of the dark money infrastructure.

Democratic nominee James Talarico is calling this what it is. In a recent ad, his campaign warns that Musk "wants to buy his own personal U.S. senator." Talarico noted on X that there is "something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator." Musk responded by claiming "Talarico hates Texas and America." This is the classic playbook of the powerful. They frame any challenge to their wallet as an attack on the country.

Polls aggregated by FiftyPlusOne show Talarico with a three-percentage-point advantage over Paxton. But Musk is betting that $189.6 million can override the will of the people. He is treating the Texas Senate seat like a corporate acquisition.

The war on accountability

Musk is not just buying candidates; he is preparing to fight the government. The Washington Post reports that Musk has adopted a "war posture" against potential congressional investigations into DOGE. He is bracing for a fight if Democrats win control of Congress next month. This is the behavior of a man who believes he is above the law.

This pattern is familiar. The Twitter acquisition by Elon Musk showed how a global communication platform can serve as a personal megaphone for a specific political agenda. He didn't buy a company; he bought a megaphone. The Uber Files revealed a tech billionaire's aggressive pursuit of power to bypass laws that protect workers. This is the same playbook. It is the pursuit of influence over regulators to avoid the rules.

This is the direct result of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That ruling created a mechanism where the legal erasure of campaign finance limits allows a single billionaire to treat democratic elections as a private investment for political leverage. It turned the voting booth into a suggestion box.

Some will argue that Musk is simply exercising his First Amendment rights. They will say that any citizen should be able to support a candidate they believe in. But there is a difference between a citizen's contribution and a trillionaire's bankroll. When spending reaches the hundreds of millions, it is no longer speech. It is a bribe for future policy. It is the purchase of impunity.

A global pattern of capture

We see this same hunger for power playing out globally. Al Jazeera reports that in Brazil, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is pledging a militarized approach to crime in "close partnership" with Donald Trump. The Trump administration has already used tariffs to try to protect Jair Bolsonaro from judicial cases. Even Meta faces allegations that it restricted pro-Lula activity to support Bolsonaro.

At home, the tension is rising. NPR reports that almost 21 million Americans have already voted early. Saige Miller notes that Democrats are voting at higher rates than Republicans. Meanwhile, the MAGA Mall is seeing a decline. Sales fell from Trump's presidential election years, and Trump merchandise stores closed this year.

Despite this, the machinery of power continues to move. The U.S. is deploying a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East. A source told NPR that the U.S. and Israel are preparing plans for a possible attack on Iran after the midterms. President Trump will likely wait until after Nov. 3 to avoid spiking oil prices before the election. This is how the ultra-wealthy and their allies operate. They treat global stability and human lives as variables in an election calculation.

Elon Musk operates with the same impunity as the bankers who crashed the world in 2008. Back then, concentrated financial interests destroyed millions of lives and then bought their way out of accountability. Musk is doing the same with a more visible megaphone. He will use his financial leverage and corporate machinery to stonewall any congressional investigation into his spending. He will dare a new Congress to hold him accountable while working families struggle. Justice requires an immediate end to dark money and a restoration of the rule of law over the rule of the wallet.

Elon Musk's dark money is a corporate takeover of Texas

Buying a personal senator

The war on accountability

A global pattern of capture

Sources