Elon Musk returns to politics with plan to boost Republican turnout
Elon Musk returns to politics with plan to boost Republican turnout
Benedict SmithThu, July 30, 2026 at 4:37 PM UTC
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Tesla boss Elon Musk speaks at a rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York, Oct 2024 - Angela Weiss/Getty
Elon Musk is returning to the political fray with a plan to boost turnout of Republican voters in the Midterms.
The world’s richest man is reviving his campaign group, America PAC, which spent more than $260m (£194m) in the 2024 elections to support the election of Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.
The Republican Party faces an uphill battle to retain control of the House of Representatives in November’s elections, weighed down by Mr Trump’s dire polling numbers. Some Democrats also believe there is a route to winning back the Senate.
America PAC (political action committee) will focus on door-knocking and advertising to spur conservatives, particularly those less likely to vote during the Midterms, according to Axios.
“America PAC was an essential partner for our historic [get out the vote] operation in 2024, and their return for 2026 is a huge boost for Republicans across the country,” said James Blair, Mr Trump’s senior political adviser.
“We will again outsmart our opponents and ruthlessly execute our mission for the GOP [Grand Old Party] between now and election day.”
Musk plans to use a major spending push to boost turnout of Republican voters in November’s Midterms - Brendan Smialowski /AFP
Mr Musk’s intervention will extend the Republicans’ substantial cash advantage over the Democrats in November. The Tesla billionaire became the largest political donor in history two years ago when he threw his financial muscle behind Mr Trump.
Campaign groups aligned with Republicans have reported around $1bn (£744m) to spend in the months before November, compared to $404m held by their Democratic counterparts.
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However, Mr Musk does not have a perfect record of political wins. He suffered a setback in April 2025 after throwing himself into the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, spending $21m (£16m) only for his candidate, Brad Schimel, a conservative judge, to lose decisively to a liberal rival.
Some commentators said the billionaire staging a high-profile intervention in the race, during which he fronted a rally wearing a Wisconsin “cheese head”, backfired by energising Democrats rather than Republicans.
“The president’s political team and the rest of the GOP apparatus have built a top-notch operation that will put Republicans in a strong position to buck history and retain control of Congress this fall,” said Andrew Romeo, an America PAC spokesman.
Musk joined Trump in 2025 as head of the cost-cutting agency Doge but the pair fell out - Jeff Bottari
Mr Musk drew controversy for his voter sweepstakes in 2024, when registered voters who signed a petition at random were awarded a $1m (£745,000) prize.
The billionaire claimed winners were selected at random, but the first three winners came from Pennsylvania, the largest swing state, which eventually voted for Mr Trump. A lawyer for Mr Musk later admitted the selections were not random.
Mr Musk entered Mr Trump’s administration in 2025 as head of the cost-cutting agency Doge, but left after four months as his relationship with the president disintegrated.
He briefly flirted with setting up a rival to the GOP called the “America Party”, but has since returned to the Republican fold and has appeared publicly with Mr Trump.
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Source: “AOL Breaking”
