Elon Musk, left, reportedly plans to inject money into Maine’s U.S. Senate race in support of Republican Sen. Susan Collins, right. (Photos by Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press and Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)
Elon Musk is reportedly planning to spend at least $100 million to help U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in Maine and Republicans in several other states with high-stakes Senate races this fall.
The world’s richest person has authorized his America PAC to spend $100 million to $120 million to boost Republicans in at least eight states, according to The New York Times, which cited two people briefed on the plans who requested anonymity to discuss private discussions.
His initial plans include targeting Senate races in Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa, and America PAC is reportedly considering also spending in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina, per Thursday’s report from the Times.
The precise spending amounts could reportedly change, but Musk’s group is planning a field operation revolving around knocking on doors to reach voters. America PAC has reportedly relayed its plans to other groups such as President Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc.
An America PAC spokesperson has not confirmed the group’s plans and did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning.
Collins campaign spokesperson Shawn Roderick said Friday afternoon that “we have not heard anything about this except press reports and have no knowledge of these operations.”
“We are not working with this group,” Roderick said.
Musk’s expected injection of cash represents a sharp turnaround after he had a public falling-out with Trump last year and threatened to form a new third party over his frustration with Republicans and massive spending they included in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which also contained tax breaks and healthcare cuts. Musk spent the first few months of Trump’s second term leading the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which carried out sweeping cuts at federal agencies.
Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, had friendly meetings with Musk in the past while also saying last year she was “very concerned” about some of DOGE’s moves.
Collins, 73, is seeking a sixth term and faces former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, a fellow Aroostook County native who last weekend became the Maine Democratic Party’s pick to replace Graham Platner on the ballot following the Sullivan oysterman’s swift downfall after Politico detailed a former girlfriend’s claim that he sexually assaulted her in 2021.
At the national level, Republicans have a big cash advantage over Democrats that is bolstered thanks to outside conservative groups also pouring millions into races to boost Collins and other GOP candidates. Maine’s Senate race is expected to see closer to $400 million in ad spending, doubling the record set in 2020, when Collins beat Freeport Democrat Sara Gideon.
But Jackson is expected to have more support start to arrive from national Democrats, and his campaign said it raised $2 million in the two days after he was nominated at last Saturday’s convention to replace Platner on the ballot. Jackson, 58, who finished third in June’s gubernatorial primary, had also raised $1 million prior to the convention. He had a slight edge over Collins in a University of New Hampshire poll released earlier in July.
Collins “has spent her career doing what billionaires like Elon Musk want,” the Jackson campaign said in a statement Friday afternoon.
“Troy Jackson grew up in a logging family in Allagash and has spent his life fighting for working people,” the campaign said. “This race is a choice between a senator who answers to billionaires and one who answers to the people of Maine.”
Maine Democratic Party spokesperson Misha Linnehan said Musk “is just the latest out-of-state, right-wing billionaire donor to pour money into Susan Collins’ campaign.”
