Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk holds up an Air Force One stuffed toy as he walks from the presidential helicopter Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House Feb. 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Musk has made a $10 million endorsement in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race.
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The richest man in the world has contributed $10 million in support of Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Nate Morris, according to a new report out Monday.
Elon Musk, best known for business ventures like Tesla and SpaceX, donated the large sum to a political action committee supporting Morris earlier this month, according to outlet Axios, which broke the story. Morris is one of three leading candidates in the GOP primary race to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell. Other candidates include former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Rep. Andy Barr.
This is not Musk’s first foray into Republican politics. After a backing both sides of the aisle for much of his time as a businessman, Musk was the biggest donor to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2024, a cause he supported to the tune of almost $300 million.
Musk hasn’t played significantly in Kentucky politics, however. In July 2025, he posted to X, the social media platform he acquired in 2022, that he intends to back Northern Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, despite Massie and Trump openly feuding for months, with the president backing Massie’s primary challenger Ed Gallrein.
Axios reported Musk became attracted to Morris’ campaign during a “recent conversation” in which he was “impressed with Morris’ business background and anti-establishment message.”
Musk also appreciated that Morris cast himself as running against the legacy of McConnell, a hallmark of Morris’ campaign thus far. All three leading candidates in the race have ties to the senator, whose tenure stretches 40-plus years. Morris was an intern for McConnell, but has garnered attention for his harsh criticism of the GOP leader in recent months.
The $10 million donation from Musk is a huge lift to Morris’ campaign. Several months in, Morris is polling well behind Cameron and still lags behind Barr in advance of the May primary. An early January survey from a pro-Cameron PAC recently showed Cameron with 40% support, Barr at 25% and Morris with 13%.
Morris, who founded technology and waste firm Rubicon, has largely self-funded his campaign.
The Herald-Leader has attempted to reach out to Musk regarding his contribution. He has yet to respond.
Barr, who has represented Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District for more than a decade, has led the fundraising race. Cameron remains out front in all publicly available polling, but has not attracted significant donations; he was attorney general for four years and ran unsuccessfully against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in 2023.
Barr has reported $6.4 million on hand as of Dec. 31. Morris had $1.5 million as of the end of 2025, but could loan himself more money as the campaign continues. Cameron has yet to report his end-of-year total.
Blake Gober, Barr’s campaign manager, took a jab at Morris’ polling numbers in a statement titled “Nate Morris Gets Another $10M for the Bonfire.”
“The more money Nate Morris spends, the more Kentuckians get to see him and the worse he does. Nate Morris and his never-Trump allies have already spent $6 million on TV, and he’s stuck in a distant third and statistically tied with a DEMOCRAT in a Kentucky general election poll,” Gober wrote.
Gober was referencing a poll conducted by the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker, the previous 2022 Democratic nominee. That poll of 650 Kentuckians had Booker trailing Morris by just one point despite Kentucky’s hard lean toward Republicans in federal races.
No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in the state since the late Wendell Ford’s reelection in 1992, and nobody has come close to flipping one of Kentucky’s two seats since 2004.
Musk’s relationship with Trump — if he endorses, it’s widely believed he could decide the U.S. Senate GOP primary race — has been on a rollercoaster ride this year. It started with full alignment, as Musk was given the keys to run the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with slashing federal spending. The relationship grew tense over the summer, with Musk’s appearances at the White House cut short and the two openly quarreling.
Now, after a November dinner with Vice President J.D. Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Musk is back in the fold for Republicans. Morris counts Vance as a close friend, something Morris allies believe will help in the lead-up to the May primary.
Musk intends to support the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections, according to news reports and his social media posts.
This story was originally published January 19, 2026 at 9:33 AM.
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Austin Horn
Lexington Herald-Leader
Austin Horn is a politics reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He previously worked for the Frankfort State Journal and National Public Radio. Horn has roots in both Woodford and Martin Counties.
