According to a new document from the Federal Election Commission ( FEC ) released on Thursday, the main Republican Senate super PAC “ Senate Leadership Fund ” ( SLF ) set a new record for fundraising in a single quarter in history and held over $155 million in cash in the last few weeks before the midterms on November 3rd.
SLF raised $272.9 million between July and September, of which $209.7 million came from donors.
Tesla and Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, contributed the majority of the funds. In September, he donated $158 million to a Texas PAC affiliated with SLF, which was established to support Republican Ken Paxton. Musk's two donations, amounting to $75 million and $83 million respectively, are among the largest political donations in history.
Elon Musk's single donation also exceeded the fundraising amount of the Democratic Senate majority throughout the entire third quarter. This super PAC stated that it raised a record $151 million during that quarter and held $111.8 million in cash at the end of September, calling it the organization's highest figure for the third quarter. The financial documents of this super PAC have not yet been made public.
The fundraising scale of SLF has broken its previous record. The organization raised nearly $116 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $111 million in 2022. In 2020, when SLF submitted reports on a monthly basis, it raised about $157 million during the period from July to September. According to a review of the FEC documents by CNBC, its previous quarterly high was $216 million in the last three months of 2020.
This record-breaking influx of funds provided a considerable financial cushion for Republicans to maintain their 53-seat majority in the Senate nationwide; as the elections approach, the competition has become increasingly defensive.
SLF This month, the campaign suspended further advertising in North Carolina, a swing state, after having spent over $30 million there previously – according to AdImpact data – and shifted its resources to Kansas, where Republican Senator Roger Marshall is facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton.
In Nebraska, SLF has pledged to invest $15 million to support Republican Senator Pete Rikits, including $7 million invested through the affiliated organization Cornhusker Majority, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal this week. Trump won Nebraska in 2024 by more than 20 percentage points.
This super PAC has also always been a core force in the Republican Party's involvement in the Texas election campaign. Democrat James Taralico has turned what was originally considered a safe Senate race for the Republicans into one of the most expensive campaigns in the United States.
According to AdImpact data, in September alone, Republican groups spent approximately 122 million dollars in Texas. As of early October, they had also reserved an additional 66 million dollars in advertising budget until election day.
Taralico announced on Thursday that he raised $64 million in the third quarter, setting a record for Senate candidates in terms of fundraising during that period. According to a FEC document, Paxton raised $10.2 million.
